Recommendations for examining and interpreting funnel plot asymmetry in meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials

Jonathan A C Sterne; Alex J Sutton; John P A Ioannidis; Norma Terrin; David R Jones; Joseph Lau; James Carpenter; Gerta Rücker; Roger M Harbord; Christopher H Schmid; Jennifer Tetzlaff; Jonathan J Deeks; Jaime Peters; Petra Macaskill; Guido Schwarzer; Sue Duval; Douglas G Altman; David Moher; Julian P T Higgins

doi:10.1136/bmj.d4002

Recommendations for examining and interpreting funnel plot asymmetry in meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials

Jonathan A C Sterne, Alex J Sutton, John P A Ioannidis, Norma Terrin, David R Jones, Joseph Lau, James Carpenter, Gerta Rücker, Roger M Harbord, Christopher H Schmid, Jennifer Tetzlaff, Jonathan J Deeks, Jaime Peters, Petra Macaskill, Guido Schwarzer, Sue Duval, Douglas G Altman, David Moher, Julian P T Higgins

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2696 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Funnel plots, and tests for funnel plot asymmetry, have been widely used to examine bias in the results of meta-analyses. Funnel plot asymmetry should not be equated with publication bias, because it has a number of other possible causes. This article describes how to interpret funnel plot asymmetry, recommends appropriate tests, and explains the implications for choice of meta-analysis model

Original language	English
Article number	d4002
Journal	BMJ
Volume	343
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d4002
Publication status	Published - 22 Jul 2011

Keywords

Meta-Analysis as Topic
Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
Selection Bias
Statistics as Topic

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Sterne, J. A. C., Sutton, A. J., Ioannidis, J. P. A., Terrin, N., Jones, D. R., Lau, J., Carpenter, J., Rücker, G., Harbord, R. M., Schmid, C. H., Tetzlaff, J., Deeks, J. J., Peters, J., Macaskill, P., Schwarzer, G., Duval, S., Altman, D. G., Moher, D., & Higgins, J. P. T. (2011). Recommendations for examining and interpreting funnel plot asymmetry in meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials. BMJ, 343, Article d4002. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d4002

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title = "Recommendations for examining and interpreting funnel plot asymmetry in meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials",

abstract = "Funnel plots, and tests for funnel plot asymmetry, have been widely used to examine bias in the results of meta-analyses. Funnel plot asymmetry should not be equated with publication bias, because it has a number of other possible causes. This article describes how to interpret funnel plot asymmetry, recommends appropriate tests, and explains the implications for choice of meta-analysis model",

keywords = "Meta-Analysis as Topic, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Selection Bias, Statistics as Topic",

author = "Sterne, \{Jonathan A C\} and Sutton, \{Alex J\} and Ioannidis, \{John P A\} and Norma Terrin and Jones, \{David R\} and Joseph Lau and James Carpenter and Gerta R{\"u}cker and Harbord, \{Roger M\} and Schmid, \{Christopher H\} and Jennifer Tetzlaff and Deeks, \{Jonathan J\} and Jaime Peters and Petra Macaskill and Guido Schwarzer and Sue Duval and Altman, \{Douglas G\} and David Moher and Higgins, \{Julian P T\}",

year = "2011",

month = jul,

day = "22",

doi = "10.1136/bmj.d4002",

language = "English",

volume = "343",

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Sterne, JAC, Sutton, AJ, Ioannidis, JPA, Terrin, N, Jones, DR, Lau, J, Carpenter, J, Rücker, G, Harbord, RM, Schmid, CH, Tetzlaff, J, Deeks, JJ, Peters, J, Macaskill, P, Schwarzer, G, Duval, S, Altman, DG, Moher, D & Higgins, JPT 2011, 'Recommendations for examining and interpreting funnel plot asymmetry in meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials', BMJ, vol. 343, d4002. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d4002

TY - JOUR

T1 - Recommendations for examining and interpreting funnel plot asymmetry in meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials

AU - Sterne, Jonathan A C

AU - Sutton, Alex J

AU - Ioannidis, John P A

AU - Terrin, Norma

AU - Jones, David R

AU - Lau, Joseph

AU - Carpenter, James

AU - Rücker, Gerta

AU - Harbord, Roger M

AU - Schmid, Christopher H

AU - Tetzlaff, Jennifer

AU - Deeks, Jonathan J

AU - Peters, Jaime

AU - Macaskill, Petra

AU - Schwarzer, Guido

AU - Duval, Sue

AU - Altman, Douglas G

AU - Moher, David

AU - Higgins, Julian P T

PY - 2011/7/22

Y1 - 2011/7/22

N2 - Funnel plots, and tests for funnel plot asymmetry, have been widely used to examine bias in the results of meta-analyses. Funnel plot asymmetry should not be equated with publication bias, because it has a number of other possible causes. This article describes how to interpret funnel plot asymmetry, recommends appropriate tests, and explains the implications for choice of meta-analysis model

AB - Funnel plots, and tests for funnel plot asymmetry, have been widely used to examine bias in the results of meta-analyses. Funnel plot asymmetry should not be equated with publication bias, because it has a number of other possible causes. This article describes how to interpret funnel plot asymmetry, recommends appropriate tests, and explains the implications for choice of meta-analysis model

KW - Meta-Analysis as Topic

KW - Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic

KW - Selection Bias

KW - Statistics as Topic

U2 - 10.1136/bmj.d4002

DO - 10.1136/bmj.d4002

M3 - Article

C2 - 21784880

SN - 0959-535X

VL - 343

JO - BMJ

JF - BMJ

M1 - d4002

ER -

Recommendations for examining and interpreting funnel plot asymmetry in meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials

Abstract

Keywords

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