# The metafor Package

A Meta-Analysis Package for R

### Sidebar

plots:funnel_plot_with_trim_and_fill

## Funnel Plot with Trim and Fill

### Description

The trim and fill method is a nonparametric (rank-based) data augmentation technique proposed by Duval and Tweedie (2000a, 2000b; see also Duval, 2005). The method can be used to estimate the number of studies missing from a meta-analysis due to the suppression of the most extreme results on one side of the funnel plot. The method then augments the observed data so that the funnel plot is more symmetric. The method should not be regarded as a way of yielding a more "valid" estimate of the overall effect or outcome, but as a way of examining the sensitivity of the results to one particular selection mechanism (i.e., one particular form of publication bias).

### Code

library(metafor)

### decrease margins so the full space is used
par(mar=c(5,4,1,2))

### fit random-effects model
res <- rma(yi, vi, data=dat.hackshaw1998, measure="OR")

### carry out trim-and-fill analysis
taf <- trimfill(res)

### draw funnel plot with missing studies filled in
funnel(taf)

### References

Duval, S. J., & Tweedie, R. L. (2000a). Trim and fill: A simple funnel-plot-based method of testing and adjusting for publication bias in meta-analysis. Biometrics, 56(2), 455–463.

Duval, S. J., & Tweedie, R. L. (2000b). A nonparametric "trim and fill" method of accounting for publication bias in meta-analysis. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 95(449), 89–98.

Duval, S. J. (2005). The trim and fill method. In H. R. Rothstein, A. J. Sutton, & M. Borenstein (Eds.) Publication bias in meta-analysis: Prevention, assessment, and adjustments (pp. 127–144). Chichester, England: Wiley.

plots/funnel_plot_with_trim_and_fill.txt · Last modified: 2016/08/04 13:41 by Wolfgang Viechtbauer