The Library
Statistical methods can be improved within Cochrane pregnancy and childbirth reviews
Tools
Tools
Tools
Riley, Richard D., Gates, Simon, Neilson, James P. and Alfirevic, Zarko (2011) Statistical methods can be improved within Cochrane pregnancy and childbirth reviews. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, Volume 64 (Number 6). pp. 608-618. doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2010.08.002 ISSN 0895-4356.
Research output not available from this repository.
Request-a-Copy directly from author or use local Library Get it For Me service.
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2010.08.002
Abstract
Objectives: To assess statistical methods within systematic reviews of the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group (CPCG).
Study Design and Setting: We extracted details about statistical methods within 75 reviews containing at least 10 studies.
Results: The median number of forest plots per review was 52 (min = 5; max = 409). Seven of the 75 reviews assessed publication bias or explained why not. Forty-four of the 75 reviews performed random-effects meta-analyses; just 1 of these justified the approach clinically and none interpreted its pooled result correctly. Of 31 reviews not using random-effects, 26 assumed a fixed-effect given potentially moderate or large heterogeneity (I(2) > 25%). In their Methods section, 25 (33%) of the 75 reviews said I(2) was used to decide between fixed-effect and random-effects; however, in 12 of these (48%) reviews, this was not carried out in their Results section. Of 72 reviews with moderate or large heterogeneity, 47 (65%) did not explore the causes of heterogeneity or justify why not.
Conclusion: Within CPCG reviews, publication bias is rarely addressed; heterogeneity is often not appropriately considered, and random-effects analyses are incorrectly interpreted. How these shortcomings impact existing review conclusions needs further investigation, but regardless of this, we recomment the Cochrane Collaboration increase "hands-on" statistical support. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subjects: | R Medicine > R Medicine (General) | ||||
| Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School | ||||
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Meta-analysis, Systematic reviews (Medical research), Cochrane Collaboration, Medicine -- Research -- Statistical methods | ||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of Clinical Epidemiology | ||||
| Publisher: | Elsevier Inc. | ||||
| ISSN: | 0895-4356 | ||||
| Official Date: | 2011 | ||||
| Dates: |
|
||||
| Volume: | Volume 64 | ||||
| Number: | Number 6 | ||||
| Page Range: | pp. 608-618 | ||||
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2010.08.002 | ||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||
| Funder: | United Nations Population Fund, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Development Programme, World Bank |
Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
