title: Network meta-analysis for indirect treatment comparisons.
abstract: I present methods for assessing the relative effectiveness of two treatments when they have not been compared directly in a randomized trial but have each been compared to other treatments. These network meta-analysis techniques allow estimation of both heterogeneity in the effect of any given treatment and inconsistency ('incoherence') in the evidence from different pairs of treatments. A simple estimation procedure using linear mixed models is given and used in a meta-analysis of treatments for acute myocardial infarction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Box 357232, Seattle, WA 98195-7232, USA. tlumley@u.washington.edu
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lumley
mesh_terms: D017130:Angioplasty / Q000592:standards; D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000628:therapy; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015912:Thrombolytic Therapy / Q000592:standards; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C087896:reteplase; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator