title: The rank-heat plot is a novel way to present the results from a network meta-analysis including multiple outcomes.
abstract: To present a novel and simple graphical approach to improve the presentation of the treatment ranking in a network meta-analysis (NMA) including multiple outcomes.
  
  
  
  NMA simultaneously compares many relevant interventions for a clinical condition from a network of trials, and allows ranking of the effectiveness and/or safety of each intervention. There are numerous ways to present the NMA results, which can challenge their interpretation by research users. The rank-heat plot is a novel graph that can be used to quickly recognize which interventions are most likely the best or worst interventions with respect to their effectiveness and/or safety for a single or multiple outcome(s) and may increase interpretability.
  
  
  
  Using empirical NMAs, we show that the need for a concise and informative presentation of results is imperative, particularly as the number of competing treatments and outcomes in an NMA increases.
  
  
  
  The rank-heat plot is an efficient way to present the results of ranking statistics, particularly when a large amount of data is available, and it is targeted to users from various backgrounds.
authors.affiliation: Knowledge Translation Program, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital, 209 Victoria Street, East Building, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1T8, Canada.
authors.forename: Areti Angeliki
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Veroniki
authors.affiliation: Knowledge Translation Program, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital, 209 Victoria Street, East Building, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1T8, Canada; Department of Geriatric Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Sharon E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Straus
authors.affiliation: Knowledge Translation Program, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital, 209 Victoria Street, East Building, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1T8, Canada.
authors.forename: Alexandros
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fyraridis
authors.affiliation: Knowledge Translation Program, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital, 209 Victoria Street, East Building, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1T8, Canada; Epidemiology Division, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College Street, 6th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5T 3M7, Canada. Electronic address: triccoa@smh.ca.
authors.forename: Andrea C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Tricco
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000379:methods*; D003196:Computer Graphics; D006801:Humans; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D012107:Research Design; D058028:Research Report; D013223:Statistics as Topic / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Graphical displays; Multiple outcomes; Multiple treatment meta-analysis; Presentation results; Probability best; SUCRA