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Biostatistics 3:445-457 (2002)
© 2002 Oxford University Press

Some general points in estimating heterogeneity variance with the DerSimonian–Laird estimator

Dankmar Böhning*, Uwe Malzahn, Ekkehart Dietz, Peter Schlattmann, Chukiat Viwatwongkasem and Annibale Biggeri

Dankmar Böhning, Uwe Malzahn, Ekkehart Dietz, Peter Schlattmann. Department of Epidemiology, Free University Berlin, Haus 562, Fabeckstr. 60-62, 14195 Berlin, Germany boehning{at}zedat.fu-berlin.de
Chukiat Viwatwongkasem. Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand phcvw{at}mucc.mahidol.ac.th
Annibale Biggeri. Department of Statistics ‘G Pareti’, University of Florence, Italy abiggeri{at}stat.ds.unifi.it

*To whom correspondence should be addressed

In this paper we consider estimating heterogeneity variance with the DerSimonian–Laird (DSL) estimator as typically used in meta-analysis. In its general form the DSL estimator requires inverse population-averaged study-specific variances as weights, in which case the estimator is unbiased. It has become common practice, however, to use estimates of the study-specific variances instead of their population-averaged versions. This can lead to considerable bias. Simulations illustrate these findings.

Keywords: Bias in DerSimonian–Laird estimator; Estimator of heterogeneity variance; Meta-analysis; Pooled analysis; Population averaged study-specific weights; Study-specific weights


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