METABIAS: Stata module to test for small-study effects in meta-analysis

Abstract

metabias performs several statistical tests for funnel-plot asymmetry in meta-analysis and optionally plots associated graphs. As there are several possible sources of funnel-plot asymmetry, these tests assess evidence for small-study effects in general rather than publication bias specifically. This is version 2.1 of the program. In addition to the tests available in previous versions of the program, namely the rank correlation test proposed by Begg and Mazumdar and the regression test proposed by Egger et al., this version also includes the modified regression test proposed by Harbord et al. and the modification of Macaskill's test proposed by Peters et al. The previous version of the program (sbe19.5) is included as -metabias6-.