recovery of information from multiple imputation a simulation study复苏的信息从多个归罪模拟研究.pdfVIP

Lee and Carlin Emerging Themes in Epidemiology 2012, 9:3 /content/9/1/3 EMERGING THEMES IN EPIDEMIOLOGY ANALYTIC PERSPECTIVE Open Access Recovery of information from multiple imputation: a simulation study Katherine J Lee1,2* and John B Carlin1,2 Abstract Background: Multiple imputation is becoming increasingly popular for handling missing data. However, it is often implemented without adequate consideration of whether it offers any advantage over complete case analysis for the research question of interest, or whether potential gains may be offset by bias from a poorly fitting imputation model, particularly as the amount of missing data increases. Methods: Simulated datasets (n = 1000) drawn from a synthetic population were used to explore information recovery from multiple imputation in estimating the coefficient of a binary exposure variable when various proportions of data (10-90%) were set missing at random in a highly-skewed continuous covariate or in the binary exposure. Imputation was performed using multivariate normal imputation (MVNI), with a simple or zero-skewness log transformation to manage non-normality. Bias, precision, mean-squared error and coverage for a set of regression parameter estimates were compared between multiple imputation and complete case analyses. Results: For missingness in the continuous covariate, multiple imputation produced less bias and greater precision for the effect of the binary exposure variable, compared with complete case analysis, with larger gains in precision with more missing data. However, even with only moderate missingness, large bias and substantial under-coverage were apparent in estimating the continuo