Many meta-analyses of rare events in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were underpowered

Ref ID 811
First Author P. Jia
Journal JOURNAL OF CLINICAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
Year Of Publishing 2021
URL https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0895435620311884
Keywords Cochrane
Statistical
Power
Problem(s) Small number of trials in meta-analyses
Weaknesses identified in some Cochrane reviews
Number of systematic reviews included 4177
Summary of Findings From 4,177 meta-analyses from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews from January 2003 to May 2018 (no. of systematic reviews not reported), only 11.81% of meta-analyses reached sufficient power. The median power to detect 10%, 30%, and 50% relative risk reduction were 0.06 (interquartile range [IQR]: 0.05 to 0.06), 0.08 (IQR: 0.06 to 0.15), and 0.17 (IQR: 0.10 to 0.42), respectively); the corresponding proportion of meta-analyses that reached sufficient power were 0.32%, 3.68%, and 11.81%. Meta-analyses incorporating data from more studies had higher probability to achieve a sufficient power (rate ratio = 2.49, 95% CI: 1.76, 3.52, P < 0.001).
Did the article find that the problem(s) led to qualitative changes in interpretation of the results? Not Applicable
Are the methods of the article described in enough detail to replicate the study? Yes