The statistical significance of meta-analyses is frequently fragile: definition of a Fragility Index for meta-analyses

Meta-analyses inform clinical practice by summarizing treatment effect estimates based on results from several trials. However, the statistical significance of a meta-analysis (ie, whether the pooled treatment effect is statistically significant or not) may rely on the outcome of only a few patients from specific trials in the meta-analysis. We aimed to evaluate the extent to which the statistical significance of meta-analyses can be changed (from statistically significant to non-significant, or vice-versa) after modifying the event status of patients in specific arms of specific trials.
Source: Journal of Clinical Epidemiology - Category: Epidemiology Authors: Tags: Original Article Source Type: research