Meta-Analysis: Quantifying a Systematic Review

About this Class

Register The purpose of this class is to introduce some of the fundamentals of meta-analysis. The focus will be on randomized clinical trials; however, the presenter will also briefly discuss the application of meta-analyses in laboratory and observational (epidemiological) studies. Most of the content for this talk was gleaned from the new Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions (2/e), an authoritative reference on the broader topic of systematic reviews. The audience should have an acquaintance with basic statistical concepts (including, but not limited to: dichotomous and continuous outcomes, odds ratios, standard deviation and error, weighted average, fixed and random effects and associated models, etc.). However, it will only be necessary to understand the principles and interpretation of these ideas, not the underlying mathematics and calculations to learn the principles presented. This class will not contain a “hands-on” portion or a set of exercises to be completed in a statistical software package during the training or afterwards. Instructor(s) -- NIH Staff: Paul Juneau