ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2010
Missing data approaches in eHealth research: simulation study and a tutorial for nonmathematically inclined researchers.
Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 83 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
83 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Conversational Agents Supporting Self-Management in People With a Chronic Disease: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Data Missing Not at Random in Mobile Health Research: Assessment of the Problem and a Case for Sensitivity Analyses.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Pooled it
- Timing of high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation to the nondominant primary motor cortex fails to modulate cortical hemodynamic activity and improve motor sequence learning.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2025Trial
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- Effectiveness of Smartphone App-Based Interactive Management on Glycemic Control in Chinese Patients With Poorly Controlled Diabetes: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2019Trial
- Effectiveness of the Chronic Care Model in Type 2 Diabetes Management in a Community Health Service Center in China: A Group Randomized Experimental Study.Journal of diabetes research · 2019Trial
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- Randomized Controlled Trial of a Brief Versus Extended Internet Intervention for Problem Drinkers.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2017Trial
- Protocol for the ENCODE trial: evaluating a novel online depression intervention for persons with epilepsy.BMC psychiatry · 2017Trial
- The Effect of Guided Web-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Patients With Depressive Symptoms and Heart Failure: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2016Trial
- Effectiveness of a Web-Based Screening and Fully Automated Brief Motivational Intervention for Adolescent Substance Use: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2016Trial
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- A Web-Based Computer-Tailored Alcohol Prevention Program for Adolescents: Cost-Effectiveness and Intersectoral Costs and Benefits.Journal of medical Internet research · 2016Trial
- Cost-effectiveness of i-Sleep, a guided online CBT intervention, for patients with insomnia in general practice: protocol of a pragmatic randomized controlled trial.BMC psychiatry · 2016Trial
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- Guided and Unguided Internet-Based Treatment for Problematic Alcohol Use - A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial.PloS one · 2016Trial
- Implementing an acceptance and commitment therapy group protocol with veterans using VA's stepped care model of pain management.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2015Trial
- A Web-Based Self-Help Intervention With and Without Chat Counseling to Reduce Cannabis Use in Problematic Cannabis Users: Three-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2015Trial
- Effectiveness of different Web-based interventions to prepare co-smokers of cigarettes and cannabis for double cessation: a three-arm randomized controlled trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2014Trial
23 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMissing data is a common nuisance in eHealth research: it is hard to prevent and may invalidate research findings.
objectiveIn this paper several statistical approaches to data "missingness" are discussed and tested in a simulation study. Basic approaches (complete case analysis, mean imputation, and last observation carried forward) and advanced methods (expectation maximization, regression imputation, and multiple imputation) are included in this analysis, and strengths and weaknesses are discussed.
methodsThe dataset used for the simulation was obtained from a prospective cohort study following participants in an online self-help program for problem drinkers. It contained 124 nonnormally distributed endpoints, that is, daily alcohol consumption counts of the study respondents. Missingness at random (MAR) was induced in a selected variable for 50% of the cases. Validity, reliability, and coverage of the estimates obtained using the different imputation methods were calculated by performing a bootstrapping simulation study.
resultsIn the performed simulation study, the use of multiple imputation techniques led to accurate results. Differences were found between the 4 tested multiple imputation programs: NORM, MICE, Amelia II, and SPSS MI. Among the tested approaches, Amelia II outperformed the others, led to the smallest deviation from the reference value (Cohen's d = 0.06), and had the largest coverage percentage of the reference confidence interval (96%).
conclusionsThe use of multiple imputation improves the validity of the results when analyzing datasets with missing observations. Some of the often-used approaches (LOCF, complete cases analysis) did not perform well, and, hence, we recommend not using these. Accumulating support for the analysis of multiple imputed datasets is seen in more recent versions of some of the widely used statistical software programs making the use of multiple imputation more readily available to less mathematically inclined researchers.
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