Where Have All the Rodents Gone? The Effects of Attrition in Experimental Research on Cancer and Stroke

Constance Holman, Sophie K Piper, Ulrike Grittner, Andreas Antonios Diamantaras, Jonathan Kimmelman, Bob Siegerink and Ulrich Dirnagl

PLOS Biology, 2016, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Given small sample sizes, loss of animals in preclinical experiments can dramatically alter results. However, effects of attrition on distortion of results are unknown. We used a simulation study to analyze the effects of random and biased attrition. As expected, random loss of samples decreased statistical power, but biased removal, including that of outliers, dramatically increased probability of false positive results. Next, we performed a meta-analysis of animal reporting and attrition in stroke and cancer. Most papers did not adequately report attrition, and extrapolating from the results of the simulation data, we suggest that their effect sizes were likely overestimated.Using a combination of simulation and meta-analysis of stroke and cancer studies, this article highlights the potentially seriously misleading consequences of failing to report the loss of animals in preclinical studies.

Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pbio00:1002331

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1002331

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