A systematic survey shows that reporting and handling of missing outcome data in networks of interventions is poor

Ref ID	436
First Author	L. M. Spineli
Journal	BMC MEDICAL RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Year Of Publishing	2018
URL	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6201503/pdf/12874_2018_Article_576.pdf
Keywords	• General medical • Protocols • Missing data • Network meta-analysis
Problem(s)	• Failure to address missing outcome data in analyses • No registered or published protocol
Number of systematic reviews included	387
Summary of Findings	72% did not mention whether a protocol was available; 17% mentioned that a protocol was developed but they did not make the protocol available. Only 16% reviews explicitly defined (either in their protocol or publication) missing outcome data however 70% of reviews explicitly reported that there was missing outcome data in the included trials. 56% applied at least one strategy to address missing outcome data in their analysis. Overall, there was insufficient information in most systematic reviews with network meta-analysis to judge the actual strategy applied to handle missing outcome data.
Did the article find that the problem(s) led to qualitative changes in interpretation of the results?	N/A
Are the methods of the article described in enough detail to replicate the study?	Yes