scispace - formally typeset
Open AccessJournal ArticleDOI

Graphical tools for network meta-analysis in STATA

TLDR
This paper provides a set of STATA routines that can be easily employed to present the evidence base, evaluate the assumptions, fit the network meta-analysis model and interpret its results.
Abstract
Network meta-analysis synthesizes direct and indirect evidence in a network of trials that compare multiple interventions and has the potential to rank the competing treatments according to the studied outcome. Despite its usefulness network meta-analysis is often criticized for its complexity and for being accessible only to researchers with strong statistical and computational skills. The evaluation of the underlying model assumptions, the statistical technicalities and presentation of the results in a concise and understandable way are all challenging aspects in the network meta-analysis methodology. In this paper we aim to make the methodology accessible to non-statisticians by presenting and explaining a series of graphical tools via worked examples. To this end, we provide a set of STATA routines that can be easily employed to present the evidence base, evaluate the assumptions, fit the network meta-analysis model and interpret its results.

read more

Content maybe subject to copyright    Report

Citations
More filters
Book

Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions

TL;DR: The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions is the official document that describes in detail the process of preparing and maintaining Cochrane systematic reviews on the effects of healthcare interventions.
Journal ArticleDOI

A GRADE Working Group approach for rating the quality of treatment effect estimates from network meta-analysis

TL;DR: It is shown that the quality of evidence supporting NMA estimates varies from high to very low across comparisons, and that quality ratings given to a whole network are uninformative and likely to mislead.
Journal ArticleDOI

Evaluating the Quality of Evidence from a Network Meta-Analysis

TL;DR: An approach to determining confidence in the output of a network meta-analysis is proposed based on methodology developed by the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation Working Group for pairwise meta-analyses and applied to a systematic review comparing topical antibiotics without steroids for chronically discharging ears with underlying eardrum perforations.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI

Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical test

TL;DR: Funnel plots, plots of the trials' effect estimates against sample size, are skewed and asymmetrical in the presence of publication bias and other biases Funnel plot asymmetry, measured by regression analysis, predicts discordance of results when meta-analyses are compared with single large trials.
Journal ArticleDOI

Meta-Analysis in Clinical Trials*

TL;DR: This paper examines eight published reviews each reporting results from several related trials in order to evaluate the efficacy of a certain treatment for a specified medical condition and suggests a simple noniterative procedure for characterizing the distribution of treatment effects in a series of studies.
Journal ArticleDOI

Graphical methods and numerical summaries for presenting results from multiple-treatment meta-analysis: an overview and tutorial.

TL;DR: Bayesian methodology offers a multitude of ways to present results from MTM models, as it enables a natural and easy estimation of all measures based on probabilities, ranks, or predictions.
Book

Cluster analysis for researchers

TL;DR: Cluster Analysis for Researchers does not guarantee a high level of accuracy, but it can be helpful to have a basic understanding of how cluster analysis works.
Related Papers (5)