Warning: imagejpeg(C:\Inetpub\vhosts\kidney.de\httpdocs\phplern\26634940
.jpg): Failed to open stream: No such file or directory in C:\Inetpub\vhosts\kidney.de\httpdocs\pget.php on line 117 Dtsch+Arztebl+Int
2015 ; 112
(47
): 803-8
Nephropedia Template TP
gab.com Text
Twit Text FOAVip
Twit Text #
English Wikipedia
Indirect Comparisons and Network Meta-Analyses
#MMPMID26634940
Kiefer C
; Sturtz S
; Bender R
Dtsch Arztebl Int
2015[Nov]; 112
(47
): 803-8
PMID26634940
show ga
BACKGROUND: Systematic reviews provide a structured summary of the results of
trials that have been carried out on any particular subject. If the data from
multiple trials are sufficiently homogenous, a meta-analysis can be performed to
calculate pooled effect estimates. Traditional meta-analysis involves groups of
trials that compare the same two interventions directly (head to head). Lately,
however, indirect comparisons and network metaanalyses have become increasingly
common. METHODS: Various methods of indirect comparison and network meta-analysis
are presented and discussed on the basis of a selective review of the literature.
The main assumptions and requirements of these methods are described, and a
checklist is provided as an aid to the evaluation of published indirect
comparisons and network meta-analyses. RESULTS: When no head-to-head trials of
two interventions are available, indirect comparisons and network metaanalyses
enable the estimation of effects as well as the simultaneous analysis of networks
involving more than two interventions. Network meta-analyses and indirect
comparisons can only be useful if the trial or patient characteristics are
similar and the observed effects are sufficiently homogeneous. Moreover, there
should be no major discrepancy between the direct and indirect evidence. If
trials are available that compare each of two treatments against a third one, but
not against each other, then the third intervention can be used as a common
comparator to enable a comparison of the other two. CONCLUSION: Indirect
comparisons and network metaanalyses are an important further development of
traditional meta-analysis. Clear and detailed documentation is needed so that
findings obtained by these new methods can be reliably judged.
|*Algorithms
[MESH]
|*Checklist
[MESH]
|*Clinical Trials as Topic/classification
[MESH]
|*Data Interpretation, Statistical
[MESH]
|*Network Meta-Analysis as Topic
[MESH]
|*Outcome Assessment, Health Care/methods/statistics & numerical data
[MESH]
free
free
free
