392,304 papers found

Location-scale models in the field of meta-analysis allow researchers to simultaneously study the influence of moderator variables on the mean (location) and variance (scale) of the distribution of true effects. However, the increased complexity of such models can make model fitting challenging. Moreover, the statistic…

Bayesian nonparametric (BNP) approaches for meta-analysis have been developed to relax distributional assumptions and handle the heterogeneity of random effects distributions. These models account for possible clustering and multimodality of the random effects distribution. However, when we combine studies of varying q…

To (1) summarize pooled prevalence and incidence rates of concussion by type of sport and (2) synthesize the differences in prevalence or incidence rates of concussion by type of sports in terms of sex, age, type of session, and level of competition.An overview of systematic reviews with meta-analysis.CINAHL, Embase, E…

The application of network meta-analysis is becoming increasingly widespread, and for a successful implementation, it requires that the direct comparison result and the indirect comparison result should be consistent. Because of this, a proper detection of inconsistency is often a key issue in network meta-analysis as…

Network meta-analysis (NMA) is an extension of pairwise meta-analysis (PMA) which combines evidence from trials on multiple treatments in connected networks. NMA delivers internally consistent estimates of relative treatment efficacy, needed for rational decision making. Over its first 20 years NMA's use has gro…

BACKGROUND: Short birth interval (SBI) has been linked to an increased risk of adverse maternal, perinatal, infant and child health outcomes. However, the prevalence and maternal and child health impacts of SBI in the Asia-Pacific region have not been well understood. This study aims to identify and summarise the exist…

OBJECTIVES: We describe how consideration of external evidence may play an important role in judging certainty in the process of establishing the certainty of the evidence. Our example is a network meta-analysis (NMA) addressing treatment for Ebola virus disease, which informed a World Health Organization guideline. S…

BACKGROUND: Network meta-analysis (NMA) is a statistical method used to combine results from several clinical trials and simultaneously compare multiple treatments using direct and indirect evidence. Statistical heterogeneity is a characteristic describing the variability in the intervention effects being evaluated in…

Tobacco use kills more than eight million individuals each year, and results in substantial economic and human capital loss across nations. While effective supply-side solutions to tobacco control exist, these approaches are less effective at promoting cessation among heavy smokers, and less feasible to implement in co…

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) offers a unique way to noninvasively investigate millisecond-order cortical activities by mapping sensor signals (magnetic fields outside the head) to cortical current sources using current source reconstruction methods. Current source reconstruction is defined as an ill-posed inverse probl…

Network meta-analysis (NMA) compares the efficacy and harm between several treatments by combining direct and indirect evidence. The validity of NMA requires that all available evidence form a coherent network. Failure to meet such requirement is known as inconsistency. The most popular approach to inconsistency detect…

BACKGROUND: A growing number of studies suggest that social isolation and loneliness are associated with premature mortality and are more prevalent among people with mental illness than in the general population, outlining many potential paths to disease still to be elucidated. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to e…

INTRODUCTION: Refractory gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (rGORD) is a common disease, affecting patients' quality of life. Since conventional medicines have limitations, like low effective rates and adverse events, acupuncture may be a promising therapy for rGORD. While no related systematic review has been published…

If IPD is available for some or all trials in a network meta-analysis (NMA), then incorporating this IPD into an NMA is routinely considered to be preferable. However, the situation often arises where a researcher has IPD for trials concerning a particular treatment (eg, from a sponsor) but none for other trials. There…

BACKGROUND: Meta-analysis is useful for combining the results of different studies statistically to confirm genuine associations in genetics. Based on earlier reports, we aimed to investigate the association between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) genetic variants identified in a previous meta-analysis in gestational d…

The vast majority of meta-analyses uses summary/aggregate data retrieved from published studies in contrast to meta-analysis of individual participant data (IPD). When the outcome is continuous and IPD are available, linear mixed modelling methods can be employed in a one-stage approach. This allows for flexible modell…

BACKGROUND: Joint modeling of longitudinal and time-to-event data is often advantageous over separate longitudinal or time-to-event analyses as it can account for study dropout, error in longitudinally measured covariates, and correlation between longitudinal and time-to-event outcomes. The current literature on joint…

OBJECTIVE: To explore the impact of applying the Grading of Recommendations and Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach to assess the certainty of the evidence in a published network meta-analysis (NMA) of antidepressant therapies. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTINGS: We applied the GRADE approach to rate the c…

Quantitative evidence synthesis through meta-analysis is central to evidence-based medicine. For well-documented reasons, the meta-analysis of individual patient data is held in higher regard than aggregate data. With access to individual patient data, the analysis is not restricted to a "two-stage" approach (combining…

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are the cornerstones of evidence-based medicine and inform treatment, diagnosis, or prevention of individual patients as well as policy decisions in health care. Statistical methods for the meta-analysis of intervention studies are well established today. Meta-analysis for diagnosti…