Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40247168›Full record

ArticleBMC medical research methodology2025

The conclusiveness of trial sequential analysis varies with estimation of between-study variance: a case study.

Enoch Kang, James S Hodges, Yu-Chieh Chuang, Jin-Hua Chen, Chiehfeng Chen, Cochrane Taiwan

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medical research methodology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Refined trial sequential analysis for meta-analyses with few studies.Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series C, Applied statistics · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Enoch KangCochrane Taiwan, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
James S HodgesDivision of Biostatistics and Health Data Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Yu-Chieh ChuangDepartment of Psychiatry, Taipei City Psychiatric Center, Taipei City Hospital, Songde Branch, Taipei, Taiwan.
Jin-Hua ChenCochrane Taiwan, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Chiehfeng ChenCochrane Taiwan, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan. clifchen@tmu.edu.tw.
Cochrane Taiwan

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTrial sequential methods have been introduced to address issues related to increased likelihood of incorrectly rejecting the null hypothesis in meta-analyses due to repeated significance testing. Between-study variance (τ

methodsThis case study was grounded in a Cochrane review that provides data for smaller (< 10 randomized clinical trials, RCTs) and larger (> 20 RCTs) meta-analyses. The review compared various outcomes between video-laryngoscopy and direct laryngoscopy for tracheal intubation, and we used outcomes including hypoxemia and failed intubation, stratified by difficulty, expertise, and obesity. We calculated odds ratios using inverse variance method with six estimators for τ

resultsWe found that diversity increases logarithmically with

conclusionThis study highlights the importance of

Indexed as

Meta-Analysis as TopicRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicData Interpretation, StatisticalHumansIntubation, IntratrachealLaryngoscopyLikelihood FunctionsModels, StatisticalOdds RatioResearch DesignHeterogeneityMeta-analysisOptimal information sizeRequired information sizeSequential methodTau-square

Identifiers

PMID40247168
PMCPMC12004556

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Registered trials

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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.