title: A Bayesian fixed effects analysis of the Mantel-Haenszel model applied to meta-analysis.
abstract: When performing a meta analysis, it is often necessary to combine results from several 2 x 2 contingency tables. The Mantel-Haenszel model assumes a common measure of association between the treatment and outcome variables across the tables. A Bayesian method is described for drawing inferences regarding the measure of association, for checking the plausibility of the Mantel-Haenszel model, and for drawing inferences regarding the success rates for the individual studies. While the methodology is readily extendable to random effects models, a fixed effects approach avoids the complex statistical modelling of a mixture distribution which is required for the good application of random effects models.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Leonard
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Duffy
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000188:drug therapy; D010146:Pain
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents