Open AccessA review of methods for addressing components of interventions in meta-analysis
Author(s) -
Μαρία Πετροπούλου,
Orestis Efthimiou,
Gerta Rücker,
Guido Schwarzer,
Toshi A Furukawa,
Alessandro Pompoli,
Huiberdina L. Koek,
Cinzia Del Giovane,
Nicolas Rodondi,
Dimitris Mavridis
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0246631
Subject(s) - psychological intervention , context (archaeology) , computer science , management science , meta analysis , risk analysis (engineering) , data science , panic disorder , medicine , engineering , psychiatry , anxiety , biology , paleontology
Many healthcare interventions are complex, consisting of multiple, possibly interacting, components. Several methodological articles addressing complex interventions in the meta-analytical context have been published. We hereby provide an overview of methods used to evaluate the effects of complex interventions with meta-analytical models. We summarized the methodology, highlighted new developments, and described the benefits, drawbacks, and potential challenges of each identified method. We expect meta-analytical methods focusing on components of several multicomponent interventions to become increasingly popular due to recently developed, easy-to-use, software tools that can be used to conduct the relevant analyses. The different meta-analytical methods are illustrated through two examples comparing psychotherapies for panic disorder.