A point estimator of the probability difference of overall treatment effect - simulation study

Abstract

One of the aims of the meta-analysis of clinical trials is to determine the efficacy of a new type of
treatment. This efficacy is commonly measured by the difference between the efficacy of a standard
treatment and the new treatment. For binary data the difference can be measured by a probability
difference. We investigate, by simulations and using box plots, the basic statistical properties of the
point estimator of the probability difference of overall treatment effects in the meta-analysis based on
multicentre trials for various chosen situations. This estimator was suggested in Dokoupilova (2011).