es_from_med_min_max: Convert median, quartiles, and range of two independent...

In metaConvert: An Automatic Suite for Estimation of Various Effect Size Measures

Convert median, quartiles, and range of two independent groups into several effect size measures

Description

Convert median, quartiles, and range of two independent groups into several effect size measures

Usage

es_from_med_min_max(
  min_exp,
  med_exp,
  max_exp,
  n_exp,
  min_nexp,
  med_nexp,
  max_nexp,
  n_nexp,
  smd_to_cor = "viechtbauer",
  reverse_med
)

Arguments

min_exp	minimum value of the experimental/exposed group.
med_exp	median value of the experimental/exposed group.
max_exp	maximum value of the experimental/exposed group.
n_exp	number of participants in the experimental/exposed group.
min_nexp	minimum value of the non-experimental/non-exposed group.
med_nexp	median value of the non-experimental/non-exposed group.
max_nexp	maximum value of the non-experimental/non-exposed group.
n_nexp	number of participants in the non-experimental/non-exposed group.
smd_to_cor	formula used to convert the generated cohen_d value into a coefficient correlation (see details).
reverse_med	a logical value indicating whether the direction of generated effect sizes should be flipped.

Details

This function first converts a Cohen's d (D), Hedges' g (G) and mean difference (MD) from the medians and ranges of two independent groups. Odds ratio (OR) and correlation coefficients (R/Z) are then converted from the Cohen's d.

This function recreates means+SD of the two groups (Wan et al., 2014):

mean\_exp = \frac{min\_exp + 2*med\_exp + max\_exp}{4}

mean\_nexp = \frac{min\_nexp + 2*med\_nexp + max\_nexp}{4}

mean\_sd\_exp = \frac{max\_exp - min\_exp}{2*qnorm((n\_exp-0.375) / (n\_exp+0.25))}

mean\_sd\_nexp = \frac{max\_nexp - min\_nexp}{2*qnorm((n\_nexp-0.375) / (n\_nexp+0.25))}

Note that if the group sample size is inferior to 50, a correction is applied to estimate the standard deviation.

From these means+SD, the function computes MD, D and G using formulas described in es_from_means_sd().

To estimate other effect size measures, calculations of the es_from_cohen_d() are applied.

Importantly,, authors of the Cochrane Handbook stated "As a general rule, we recommend that ranges should not be used to estimate SDs." (see section 6.5.2.6). It is thus a good practice to explore the consequences of the use of this conversion in sensitivity analyses.

Value

This function estimates and converts between several effect size measures.

natural effect size measure
converted effect size measure	MD + D + G
	OR + R + Z
required input data	See 'Section 12. Median, range and/or interquartile range'
	https://metaconvert.org/input.html

This function estimates and converts between several effect size measures.

natural effect size measure
converted effect size measure	MD + D + G
	OR + R + Z
required input data	See 'Section 12. Median, range and/or interquartile range'
	https://metaconvert.org/input.html

References

Wan, X., Wang, W., Liu, J. et al. Estimating the sample mean and standard deviation from the sample size, median, range and/or interquartile range. BMC Med Res Methodol 14, 135 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-14-135

Higgins JPT, Li T, Deeks JJ (editors). Chapter 6: Choosing effect size measures and computing estimates of effect. In: Higgins JPT, Thomas J, Chandler J, Cumpston M, Li T, Page MJ, Welch VA (editors). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions version 6.3 (updated February 2022). Cochrane, 2022. Available from www.training.cochrane.org/handbook.

Examples

es_from_med_min_max(
  min_exp = 1335, med_exp = 1400,
  max_nexp = 1765, n_exp = 40,
  min_nexp = 1481, med_nexp = 1625,
  max_exp = 1800, n_nexp = 40
)

metaConvert documentation built on April 12, 2025, 1:09 a.m.