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Development of guidelines to reduce, handle and report missing data in palliative care trials: A multi-stakeholder modified nominal group technique

Hussain, Jamilla A.; White, Ian R; Johnson, Miriam J.; Byrne, Anthony; Preston, Nancy J.; Haines, Andy; Seddon, Kathy; Peters, Tim J

Authors

Jamilla A. Hussain

Ian R White

Anthony Byrne

Nancy J. Preston

Andy Haines

Kathy Seddon

Tim J Peters



Abstract

Background: Missing data can introduce bias and reduce the power, precision and generalisability of study findings. Guidelines on how to address missing data are limited in scope and detail, and poorly implemented. Aim: To develop guidelines on how best to (i) reduce, (ii) handle and (iii) report missing data in palliative care clinical trials. Design: Modified nominal group technique. Setting/participants: Patient and public research partners, palliative care clinicians, trialists, methodologists and statisticians attended a 1-day workshop, following which a multi-stakeholder development group drafted the guidelines. Results: Seven main recommendations for reducing missing data, nine for handling missing data and twelve for reporting missing data were developed. The top five recommendations were: (i) train all research staff on missing data, (ii) prepare for missing data at the trial design stage, (iii) address missing data in the statistical analysis plan, (iv) collect the reasons for missing data and (v) report descriptive statistics comparing the baseline characteristics of those with missing and observed data. Reducing missing data, preparing for missing data and understanding the reasons for missing data were greater priorities for stakeholders than how to deal with missing data once they had occurred. Conclusion: Comprehensive guidelines on how to address missing data were developed by stakeholders involved in palliative care trials. Implementation of the guidelines will require endorsement of research funders and research journals.

Citation

Hussain, J. A., White, I. R., Johnson, M. J., Byrne, A., Preston, N. J., Haines, A., …Peters, T. J. (2022). Development of guidelines to reduce, handle and report missing data in palliative care trials: A multi-stakeholder modified nominal group technique. Palliative medicine, 36(1), 59-70. https://doi.org/10.1177/02692163211065597

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 6, 2021
Online Publication Date Jan 17, 2022
Publication Date 2022-01
Deposit Date Feb 3, 2022
Publicly Available Date Feb 4, 2022
Journal Palliative Medicine
Print ISSN 0269-2163
Electronic ISSN 1477-030X
Publisher SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 36
Issue 1
Pages 59-70
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/02692163211065597
Keywords Missing data; Lost to follow up; Randomised controlled trials; Palliative care; Palliative medicine; Guideline
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3917019

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Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2022.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).





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