[Impact of meta-analysis in clinical practice: the example of psychiatry].
BACKGROUND
To analyze the features of the studies on meta-analysis in psychiatry and assess the effect of these papers on the psychiatric reference textbooks.


METHODS
Two researchers reviewed electronic databases Medline and Embase during the period 1977-98, using the key words: clinical trial, randomized observational trial, metaanalysis, systematic review. To confirm the validity of the searching strategy inter and intra-raters reliability was studied with satisfactory kappa figures.


RESULTS
Psychiatry is the medical specialty in which more studies on meta-analysis have been carried out (N= 179, 11,79% out of the total), followed by cardiology and oncology. The increase in this kind of research during 1977-98 has been very high in all medical fields and, specifically, in psychiatry. There is no correlation between impact factor of a scientifical journal and number of meta-analysis published in it. Only 0.002% of the references of one of the most important textbook in psychiatry (Kaplan) are related to meta-analysis. There is no studies on meta-analysis developed by Spanish researchers.


CONCLUSIONS
Studies on meta-analysis are not referred by psychiatric reference textbooks. As a consequence, their impact on clinical practice is scarce.
Ceballos
C
C
Unidad de Apoyo a la Investigación, Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet, Zaragoza.
García-Campayo
J
J
Artal
A
A
Valdizán
J R
JR
D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D011570:Psychiatry; D011643:Publishing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012014:Reference Books, Medical; D012189:Retrospective Studies
Impacto del metaanálisis en la práctica clínica: el ejemplo de la psiquiatría.