Statistical considerations in meta-analysis.
Infectious disease clinics of North America, 23 (2):
195-210, Table of Contents (June 2009)5145<m:linebreak></m:linebreak>JID: 8804508; RF: 57; ppublish;.DOI: 10.1016/j.idc.2009.01.003
Abstract
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses have recently emerged as key sources of evidence to inform clinical care, from bedside individualized decisions to policy making. This article discusses the principles behind statistical methods for quantitative evidence synthesis, including meta-analysis and meta-regression. The authors present pertinent concepts in an intuitive and nonmathematical fashion by use of examples from the infectious diseases literature.