Applying the SAS Program to the Complete Begg’s Test, the Egger’sTest, and the Macaskill’s Test for Publication Bias of Meta-analysis_Chinese Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine

Authors：

ZHENG Huilie ^1,2 , WANG Zhongxu ³ ,  WANG Zengzhen ¹

1. Department of Epidemiology and Statistics, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China;2. Department of Epidemiology and Statistics, School of Public Health, Medical College of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, China;3. National Institute for Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China;

Corresponding author：

WANG Zengzhen, Email: wzzh@mails.tjmu.edu.cn

Keywords：

Meta-analysis; Publication bias; Begg’s test; Egger’s test; Macaskill’s test

DOI：

10.7507/1672-2531.20090160

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The conclusions of meta-analyses are susceptible to various of biases, and publication bias is one of such main bias. Therefore, Checking for evidence of publication bias should be undertaken routinely at the preliminary stage of a meta-analysis. Begg’s test, Egger’s test, and Macaskill’s test are usually used to objectively identify publication bias in meta-analyses. In order to conveniently use these methods, the SAS program of these three tests was designed in this paper. In order test practical data, the fact that the output of this program of SAS software was consisted with the output of STATA software was validated. So, this program is an alternative way to do such hypothesis tests to identify the publication bias in meta-analyses.

Citation： ZHENG Huilie,WANG Zhongxu,WANG Zengzhen. Applying the SAS Program to the Complete Begg’s Test, the Egger’sTest, and the Macaskill’s Test for Publication Bias of Meta-analysis. Chinese Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine, 2009, 09(8): 910-916. doi: 10.7507/1672-2531.20090160 Copy

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2.	Dickersin K, Scherer R, Lefebvre C. Identifying relevant studies for systematic reviews. BMJ, 1994, 309(6964): 1286-1291.
3.	Dickersin K. How important is publication bias? A synthesis of available data. AIDS Education and Prevention, 1997, 9(1 Suppl): 15-21.
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7.	Begg CB, Mazumdar M. Operating characteristics of a rank correlation test for publication bias. Biometrics, 1994, 50: 1088-1101.
8.	Egger M, Smith GD, Schneider M, et al. Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical test. BMJ, 1997, 315: 629-634.
9.	Macaskill P, Walter SD, Irwig L. A comparison of methods to detect publication bias in meta-analysis. Stat Med, 2001, 20: 641-654.
10.	Kendall MG. A New Measure of Rank Correlation. Biometrika, 1938, 30(1-2): 81-93.
11.	Shi XQ, Zhou SH, Wang ZX, et al. CYP1A1 and GSTM1 polymorphisms and lung cancer risk in Chinese populations: A meta-analysis. Lung Cancer, 2008, 59: 155-163.
12.	Zhuo XG, Melby MK, Watanabe S. Soy Isoflavone Intake Lowers Serum LDL Cholesterol: A Meta-Analysis of 8 Randomized Controlled Trials in Humans. J Nutr, 2004, 134: 2395-2400.
13.	Easterbrook PJ, Berlin JA, Gopalan R, et al. Publication bias in clinical research. Lancet, 1991, 337: 867-872.
14.	Sutton AJ, Duval SJ, Tweedie RL, et al. Empirical assessment of effect of publication bias on metaanalyses. BMJ, 2000, 320: 1574-1577.
15.	Macaskill P, Walter SD, Irwig L. A comparison of methods to detect publication bias in meta-analysis. Stat Med, 2001, 20: 641-654.
16.	Hayashino Y, Noguchi Y, Fukui T. Systematic evaluation and comparison of statistical tests for publication bias. Journal of Epidemiologym, 2005, 15(6): 235-243.

1. Begg CB, Berlin JA. Publication bias: A problem in interpreting medical data. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A, 1988, 151(3): 419-463.
2. Dickersin K, Scherer R, Lefebvre C. Identifying relevant studies for systematic reviews. BMJ, 1994, 309(6964): 1286-1291.
3. Dickersin K. How important is publication bias? A synthesis of available data. AIDS Education and Prevention, 1997, 9(1 Suppl): 15-21.
4. Begg CB. Publication bias. In The Handbook of Research Synthesis, Cooper H, Hedges LV (eds). Russell Sage Foundation: New York, 1994, Chapter 25.
5. Light RJ, Pillemer DB. Summing Up: The Science of Reviewing Research. Harvard University Press: Cambridge MA, 1984.
6. Greenland S. Invited commentary: a critical look at some popular meta-analytic methods. Am J Epidemiol, 1994, 140: 290-296.
7. Begg CB, Mazumdar M. Operating characteristics of a rank correlation test for publication bias. Biometrics, 1994, 50: 1088-1101.
8. Egger M, Smith GD, Schneider M, et al. Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical test. BMJ, 1997, 315: 629-634.
9. Macaskill P, Walter SD, Irwig L. A comparison of methods to detect publication bias in meta-analysis. Stat Med, 2001, 20: 641-654.
10. Kendall MG. A New Measure of Rank Correlation. Biometrika, 1938, 30(1-2): 81-93.
11. Shi XQ, Zhou SH, Wang ZX, et al. CYP1A1 and GSTM1 polymorphisms and lung cancer risk in Chinese populations: A meta-analysis. Lung Cancer, 2008, 59: 155-163.
12. Zhuo XG, Melby MK, Watanabe S. Soy Isoflavone Intake Lowers Serum LDL Cholesterol: A Meta-Analysis of 8 Randomized Controlled Trials in Humans. J Nutr, 2004, 134: 2395-2400.
13. Easterbrook PJ, Berlin JA, Gopalan R, et al. Publication bias in clinical research. Lancet, 1991, 337: 867-872.
14. Sutton AJ, Duval SJ, Tweedie RL, et al. Empirical assessment of effect of publication bias on metaanalyses. BMJ, 2000, 320: 1574-1577.
15. Macaskill P, Walter SD, Irwig L. A comparison of methods to detect publication bias in meta-analysis. Stat Med, 2001, 20: 641-654.
16. Hayashino Y, Noguchi Y, Fukui T. Systematic evaluation and comparison of statistical tests for publication bias. Journal of Epidemiologym, 2005, 15(6): 235-243.

Chinese Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine

Applying the SAS Program to the Complete Begg’s Test, the Egger’sTest, and the Macaskill’s Test for Publication Bias of Meta-analysis

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