Projects per year
Abstract
Objective: Researchers are concerned whether multiple imputation (MI) or complete case analysis (CCA) should be used when a large proportion of data are missing. We aimed to provide guidance for drawing conclusions from data with a large proportion of missingness.
Study Design and Setting: Via simulations, we investigated how the proportion of missing data, the fraction of missing information (FMI) and availability of auxiliary variables affected MI performance. Outcome data were missing completely at random or missing at random (MAR).
Results: Provided sufficient auxiliary information was available, MI was beneficial in terms of bias and never detrimental in terms of efficiency. Models with similar FMI values, but differing proportions of missing data, also had similar precision for effect estimates. In the absence of bias, the FMI was a better guide to the efficiency gains using MI than the proportion of missing data.
Conclusion: We provide evidence that for MAR data, valid MI reduces bias even when the proportion of missingness is large. We advise researchers to use FMI to guide choice of auxiliary variables for efficiency gain in imputation analyses, and that sensitivity analyses including different imputation models may be needed if the number of complete cases is small.
Study Design and Setting: Via simulations, we investigated how the proportion of missing data, the fraction of missing information (FMI) and availability of auxiliary variables affected MI performance. Outcome data were missing completely at random or missing at random (MAR).
Results: Provided sufficient auxiliary information was available, MI was beneficial in terms of bias and never detrimental in terms of efficiency. Models with similar FMI values, but differing proportions of missing data, also had similar precision for effect estimates. In the absence of bias, the FMI was a better guide to the efficiency gains using MI than the proportion of missing data.
Conclusion: We provide evidence that for MAR data, valid MI reduces bias even when the proportion of missingness is large. We advise researchers to use FMI to guide choice of auxiliary variables for efficiency gain in imputation analyses, and that sensitivity analyses including different imputation models may be needed if the number of complete cases is small.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 63-73 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Journal of Clinical Epidemiology |
Volume | 110 |
Early online date | 13 Mar 2019 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 13 Jun 2019 |
Research Groups and Themes
- ALSPAC
Keywords
- Missing data
- Multiple imputation
- Methods
- Bias
- Simulation
- ALSPAC
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Dive into the research topics of 'The proportion of missing data should not be used to guide decisions on multiple imputation'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Finished
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Rework of IEU 2 Tilling Programme
Tilling, K. M. (Principal Investigator)
1/04/18 → 31/03/23
Project: Research
Student theses
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Assessing causality of the association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring intellectual disability
Madley-Dowd, P. C. (Author), Rai, D. (Supervisor), Zammit, S. (Supervisor) & Heron, J. E. (Supervisor), 23 Mar 2021Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
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Equipment
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HPC (High Performance Computing) and HTC (High Throughput Computing) Facilities
Alam, S. R. (Manager), Williams, D. A. G. (Manager), Eccleston, P. E. (Manager) & Greene, D. (Manager)
Facility/equipment: Facility
Profiles
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Dr Rach Hughes
- Bristol Medical School (PHS) - Senior Research Fellow
- Bristol Population Health Science Institute
Person: Academic , Member