title: [Meta-analysis: an alternative method in clinical research].
abstract: Meta-analysis is a research method which allows for the grouping of results from different studies relating to the same topic. Its main objective is to increase the precision surrounding the original research problem and provide a possibility to answer to different questions. This method has been developed in the areas of physics and the social sciences and has been widely accepted within the medical field. Its main use in medicine is in relation to the evaluation of therapeutic measures, yet its application has extended to the evaluation of diagnostic tests, etiological and prognostic factors. In spite of its development, there are still persisting problems in research difficult to solve because of the heterogeneity of the grouped studies, the identification of the size of the relevant effect and of the application of the results in clinical practice. The growing use of this research method within the medical field calls for its comprehension, as well as the recognition of its advantages and limitations in order for its users to be capable of judging the validity of individual meta-analysis.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Investigación e Infectología, Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez, D.F.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dávila-Velázquez
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Martínez-Cairo
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Martínez-García
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Garduño-Espinosa
mesh_terms: D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D012106:Research
vernacular_title: Meta-análisis: un método alternativo de investigación clínica.