Introduction to meta-analysis 2: meta-analysis of binary and continuous outcomes

Workshop category: 

  • Education and training
Date and Location

Date: 

Monday 17 September 2018 - 14:00 to 15:30

Location: 

Lammermuir 1
Contact persons and facilitators

Contact person:

Areti Angeliki Veroniki
Joanne McKenzie

Facilitators:

Veroniki AA1, McKenzie J2
1 School of Education, University of Ioannina, Greece
2 Monash University, Australia
Target audience

Target audience: 

review authors, researchers

Level of difficulty: 

Intermediate
Type of workshop

Type of workshop : 

Training
Abstract

Abstract:

Objectives:
The Cochrane Statistical Methods Group has developed a series of workshops addressing statistical guidelines formulated in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. This workshop will provide review authors with knowledge about issues surrounding meta-analysis of binary and continuous outcomes.

Description:
Binary and continuous data are commonly encountered in health care. Pooling intervention effects from binary and continuous data presents unique methodological issues; some of these issues will be discussed in this workshop.

A brief introduction to meta-analysis of binary and continuous outcomes will be included, consisting of data extraction (extraction of event frequencies and/or effect estimates, and the extraction of standard deviations from standard errors, confidence intervals, test statistics and P values) and dealing with outcomes measured on different scales. More complex issues will be discussed, including options for pooling estimates of intervention effect when a mix of results from analyses using change from baseline and final values have been reported, and use of the generic inverse variance method. Issues will be illustrated by examples.

Relevance to patients and consumers: 

Well conducted and reported systematic reviews underpin evidence synthesis products such as guidelines. Such products directly influence patient care. A core component of many systematic reviews is meta-analysis, which provides a method to quantitatively determine the risks and benefits of an intervention. This workshop aims to increase systematic reviewers’ knowledge of meta-analysis methods, so that these methods are appropriately applied, and more valid conclusions about the effects of an intervention can be drawn.