The frequency of poor quality of life for all items that comprise the domains of quality of life according to the different levels of the effort-reward imbalance variable and overcommitment at work is presented in Table 1.
If any imbalances in baseline characteristics between groups are encountered, we will conduct ANCOVA (analysis of covariance) using these imbalanced variables as covariates and allocated group as fixed factor.
We investigate seasonal patterns for return, liquidity and order imbalance: Dummy variables for 14 days around the month, quarter and year end, denoted by (M_{d,t},) (Q_{d,t}) and (Y_{d,t}) respectively, are used to detect TOM effects.
This difference in mortality rate was lost after adjustment for an imbalance in variables between the matched treatment groups (OR: 0.186; 95% confidence interval: 0.033 1.39; P=0.055).
Descriptive statistics will be used to summarise patient characteristics for the three participating hospitals and to check for any imbalance in variables between pre- and post-measurement groups.
Treatment failure rates (odds ratio [OR], 1.139; P=0.308) and risk of in-hospital mortality were comparable (OR, 0.186; P=0.055) between vancomycin- and linezolid-treated patients following further adjustment for an imbalance in variables between the matched treatment groups.
In essence, these approaches use the available covariates to attempt to diminish the effects of imbalances among variables that are not of interest for treatment comparison.
Sarcoidosis is rarely associated with other diseases, and most of these are characterized by a Th1/Th2 imbalance (common variable immunodeficiency, autoimmune diseases etc).
Further multiple logistic regression analyses with generalized estimating equation adjusted imbalanced baseline variables (p < 0.5 after matching) in propensity score matched patients [ 16] to confirm the head-to-head comparisons of early treatment discontinuation, treatment failure, and hematological AEs.
Additionally, observational studies, especially retrospective cohort studies, will be included in our meta-analysis; this may increase the risk of potential selection and information bias, and the imbalanced baseline variables in observational studies will further limit the generalisation of our results.
