Table II.

Simulation study comparing complete-data, complete-case and multiple imputation analyses with two imputation models to estimate β₂ = − 0.6 with thirty (30) equal sized studies using three analysis models in five scenarios with increasing heterogeneity: mean and standard deviation (SD) of estimates, mean standard error (SE), and coverage (Cov %) of the 95% confidence interval. In inverse-variance weighted analyses, it is indicated whether Rubin's rules were applied within each study prior to meta-analysis (RR then MA) or meta-analysis of imputed datasets was performed prior to combining estimates using Rubin's rules (MA then RR).

Results from scenarios where the analysis model is misspecified are shown with a shaded background, whereas results from scenarios where the imputation model is misspecified are shown in italics.