Potential dangers in the customary methods of conducting meta-analyses. Recombinant versus urinary follicle stimulating hormone.
The customary method of combining success rates in meta-analyses may often result in serious biases, leading to erroneous inferences. This arises because of an inadmissible pooling of frequencies from heterogeneous sources. The fundamental statistical principle, that the magnitude of an 'effect' should always be tested against the variation in that effect over the sample, may not therefore be satisfied. A simple, but rigorous, alternative method is described.
Walters
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Thorpes, The Grip, Linton, Cambridge CB1 6NR, UK. dew1@cus.cam.ac.uk
D015982:Bias; D005260:Female; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone / Q000627:therapeutic use* / Q000652:urine; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010062:Ovulation Induction; D011247:Pregnancy; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone