A sensitivity analysis framework for the
treatment effect measure used in the
meta-analysis of comparative binary
data from randomised controlled trials

Jackson, D; Baker, RD; Bowden, J

Abstract

The process of undertaking a meta-analysis involves a sequence of decisions, one of which is deciding which
measure of treatment effect to use. In particular, for comparative binary data from randomised controlled trials,
a wide variety of measures are available such as the odds ratio and the risk difference. It is often of interest
to know whether important conclusions would have been substantively different if an alternative measure had
been used. Here we develop a new type of sensitivity analysis that incorporates standard measures of treatment
effect. Thus, rather than examining the implications of a variety of measures in an ad hoc manner, we can simultaneously
examine an entire family of possibilities, including the odds ratio, the arcsine difference and the risk
difference.

Citation

data from randomised controlled trials. Statistics in Medicine, 32(6), 931-940. https://doi.org/10.1002/sim.5591

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2013
• Deposit Date: Mar 3, 2015
• Journal: Statistics in Medicine
• Print ISSN: 0277-6715
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 32
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 931-940
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/sim.5591
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/sim.5591
• Related Public URLs: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1097-0258