ArticleHealth care management science2008
A new approach to outliers in meta-analysis.
Article in Health care management science, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Meta-analysis models relaxing the random-effects normality assumption: methodological systematic review and simulation study.BMC medical research methodology · 2025Pooled it
- Heterogeneity estimation in meta-analysis of standardized mean differences when the distribution of random effects departs from normal: A Monte Carlo simulation study.BMC medical research methodology · 2023Pooled it
- Bayesian hypothesis testing and estimation under the marginalized random-effects meta-analysis model.Psychonomic bulletin & review · 2022Pooled it
- Study specific prediction intervals for random-effects meta-analysis: A tutorial: Prediction intervals in meta-analysis.Research synthesis methods · 2021Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of prediction model performance across multiple studies: Which scale helps ensure between-study normality for the C-statistic and calibration measures?Statistical methods in medical research · 2018Pooled it
- Assessing the properties of the prediction interval in random-effects meta-analysis.Research synthesis methods · 2026Article
- The Enduring Gender Gap in STEM: A Meta-Analysis of Gender Differences in Self-Efficacy in STEM Fields.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Effectiveness of Social Problem-Solving Interventions for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Alternative tests and measures for between-study inconsistency in meta-analysis.BMC medical research methodology · 2025Article
- A comparison of combinedResearch synthesis methods · 2025Article
- A Bivariate Finite Mixture Random Effects Model for Identifying and Accommodating Outliers in Diagnostic Test Accuracy Meta-Analyses.Biometrical journal. Biometrische Zeitschrift · 2025Article
- A novel robust meta-analysis model using theResearch synthesis methods · 2025Article
- Sensitivity analysis with iterative outlier detection for systematic reviews and meta-analyses.Statistics in medicine · 2024Article
- Meta-analysis Using Flexible Random-effects Distribution Models.Journal of epidemiology · 2022Article
- Treatment completion among justice-involved youth engaged in behavioral health treatment studies in the United States: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of clinical and translational science · 2022Review
- A new justification of the Hartung-Knapp method for random-effects meta-analysis based on weighted least squares regression.Research synthesis methods · 2019Article
- When should meta-analysis avoid making hidden normality assumptions?Biometrical journal. Biometrische Zeitschrift · 2018Review
- An improved method for bivariate meta-analysis when within-study correlations are unknown.Research synthesis methods · 2018Article
- A comparison of meta-analytic methods for synthesizing evidence from explanatory and pragmatic trials.Systematic reviews · 2018Article
- A random effects meta-analysis model with Box-Cox transformation.BMC medical research methodology · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The synthesis of evidence from trials and medical studies using meta-analysis is essential for Evidence Based Medicine. However, problematical outlying results often occur even under the random-effects model. We propose a model that allows a long-tailed distribution for the random effect, which removes the necessity for an arbitrary decision to include or exclude outliers. In this approach, they are included, but with a reduced weight. We also introduce a modification of the forest plot to show the downweighting of outliers. We illustrate the methodology and its usefulness by carrying out both frequentist and Bayesian meta-analyses using data sets from the Cochrane Collaboration.
Indexed as
Identifiers
18581818What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.