Meta-analysis of clinical trials: a consumer's guide.
Meta-analysis is a popular statistical tool allowing the synthesis of related research studies in a quantitative manner. Components of a good meta-analysis are first discussed, with a view toward critical reading of reports of meta-analyses. Examples include lipid-lowering drugs and coronary artery bypass graft surgery. A role for meta-analysis in the design and monitoring of clinical trials was examined at a workshop held at the National Institutes of Health and aspects of these uses of meta-analyses are considered. Basic analytical and graphical methods of meta-analysis are briefly reviewed. The goal is to encourage more thoughtful evaluation of the many meta-analyses that are published or are presented.
Geller
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Office of Biostatistics Research, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Rockledge Centre 2, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-7938, USA.
Proschan
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D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods