The results of experiment 1 show that the spectrophotometric assay is well qualified for the model due to its property to measure the smallest concentrations of methylene blue reliably.
From these 5 models, predictors which appeared in at least 2 models (a Inclusion Fraction of ≥40%) qualified for the final model.
In line with the paragraph above, such a difference might qualify for a model with the sample class as outcome variable, but be eliminated in an analysis with return to work/nonreturn to work as outcome.
The result of the correlation analysis predicted 18 independent variables significantly correlated with the dependent variable and, therefore, qualified for inclusion in the model.
Five conditions qualified for the final multivariate model: High physical workload (OR 13.7), Hectic work tempo (OR 8.4), Blue-collar job (OR 4.5), Obesity (OR 3.5), and Low education (OR 2.7) (Table 5).
Sometimes the text specified the list of covariates that were tested in univariate analyses against the outcome, but did not report which of them qualified for the final adjusted model 54; whereas in other trials the text reported covariates that were significantly associated with the outcome without mentioning whether the adjusted model also contained any non-significant covariates.
Six variables (IL-1α, IL-1β, G-CSF, GM-CSF, IP-10, and MIP-1β) qualified for inclusion in the multivariable model, but the final model (AIC = 296) included only four of them (IL-1α, G-CSF, IP-10, and MIP-1β).
To be consistent with the MI-5 method, predictors which appeared in ≥40% of these models qualified for the second step.
As there were few studies that qualified for inclusion, common-effects models were used in the meta-analysis in Rodgers et al., 2011 [ 16] since these models provided a good fit based on the deviation information criterion (DIC) output from WinBUGs, as well as good convergence without autocorrelation issues.
aSix variables qualified for inclusion in the multivariable model but only four (IL-1α, IP-10, G-CSF, and MIP-1β) variables remained in the final model after the model selection process.
