Small-study safety and effect analysis
The funnel plots comparing the safety of AEs and SAEs, the efficacy of Hb response, and ΔHb showed a symmetrical pattern in DD CKD patient groups (Supplementary Figure S19-22), which indicated that there might not be a statistical small-study effect (Egger’s test; P>0.05).
Sensitivity analysis
Although the primary analysis was based on a frequentist model, it was repeated with a Bayesian model to test the robustness. The method showed similar SUCRA scores.