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An appraisal of meta‐analysis guidelines: how do they relate to safety outcomes?
Author(s) -
Bennetts Meg,
Whalen Ed,
Ahadieh Sima,
Cappelleri Joseph C.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
research synthesis methods
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.376
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1759-2887
pISSN - 1759-2879
DOI - 10.1002/jrsm.1219
Subject(s) - meta analysis , systematic review , critical appraisal , transparency (behavior) , best practice , risk analysis (engineering) , management science , computer science , quality (philosophy) , medline , psychology , medicine , alternative medicine , engineering , political science , computer security , philosophy , epistemology , pathology , law
Although well developed to assess efficacy questions, meta‐analyses and, more generally, systematic reviews, have received less attention in application to safety‐related questions. As a result, many open questions remain on how best to apply meta‐analyses in the safety setting. This appraisal attempts to: (i) summarize the current guidelines for assessing individual studies, systematic reviews, and network meta‐analyses; (ii) describe several publications on safety meta‐analytic approaches; and (iii) present some of the questions and issues that arise with safety data. A number of gaps in the current quality guidelines are identified along with issues to consider when performing a safety meta‐analysis. While some work is ongoing to provide guidance to improve the quality of safety meta‐analyses, this review emphasizes the critical need for better reporting and increased transparency regarding safety data in the systematic review guidelines. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.