Figure 2

Funnel plot to evaluate the presence of a publication bias in trials investigating adjunctive corticosteroids for pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia in HIV-infected patients. The funnel graph plots the log of the treatment odds ratio against the standard error (s.e.) of the log odds ratio (an indicator of sample size). Open circles represent trials included in the meta-analysis. The line in the centre indicates the summary log odds ratio. In the absence of a publication bias, the log odds ratio estimates from smaller trials are expected to be scattered above and below the summary estimate, producing a symmetric triangular or funnel shape. When smaller trials with larger log odds ratios are missing, the funnel plot appears asymmetric and may indicate the presence of a publication bias. In our systematic review the funnel plot looks symmetric. The Egger test for publication bias was not statistically significant (P = 0.91).