The Continuous Fragility Quotient as a Model-Free Assessment for Continuous Outcomes

The continuous fragility quotient (CFQ) is a model-free fragility metric for continuous outcomes that derives entirely from the Welch t-statistic geometry, requiring only published summary statistics. Unlike the continuous fragility index (CFI), which reconstructs pseudo-observations under distributional assumptions, CFQ produces a unique, analyst-independent value normalized to [0,1] for cross-study comparison. CFQ pairs with the Meaningful Change Index (MeCI) to complete the p–fr–nb triplet for continuous outcome trials.