Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Ioannidis, John P A
• Patsopoulos, Nikolaos A
• Rothstein, Hannah R

Titel

Reasons or excuses for avoiding meta-analysis in forest plots

Ist Teil von

• BMJ (British Medical Journal), 2008-06, Vol.336 (7658), p.1413-1415

Auflage

International edition

Ort / Verlag

England: BMJ Publishing Group

Erscheinungsjahr

2008

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Applied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts (ASSIA)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Some systematic reviews simply assemble the eligible studies without performing meta-analysis. This may be a legitimate choice. However, an interesting situation arises when reviews present forest plots (quantitative effects and uncertainty per study) but do not calculate a summary estimate (the diamond at the bottom). These reviews imply that it is important to visualize the quantitative data but final synthesis is inappropriate. Here, Ioannidis et al discuss the methods or options that almost always exist for quantitative synthesis and sometimes may offer useful insights. These quantitative methods exist to handle heterogeneity and may be considered if their assumptions are limitations are acknowledged. Finally, it is suggested that reviewers and clinicians should be aware of these options, reflect carefully on their use, and understand their limitations.