Meta-Analyses Proved Inconsistent in How Missing Data Were Handled Across Their Included Primary Trials: A Methodological Survey.
Lara A KahaleAssem M KhamisBatoul DiabYaping ChangLuciane Cruz LopesArnav AgarwalLing LiReem A MustafaSerge KoujanianReem WaziryJason Walter BusseAbeer DakikLotty HooftGordon H GuyattRob J P M ScholtenElie A AklPublished in: Clinical epidemiology (2020)
The majority of systematic review authors were inconsistent in their approach towards reporting and handling missing outcome data across eligible primary trials, and most did not explicitly report their methods to handle missing data. Systematic review authors should clearly identify missing outcome data among their eligible trials, specify an approach for handling missing data in their analyses, and apply their approach consistently across all primary trials.