Meta-analysis is a standard statistical method used to combine the conclusions of individual studies that are related and the results of single study alone can not answered to deal with issues. The data are summarized by one or more outcome measure estimates along with their standard errors. The multivariate model and the variations between studies are not considered in most articles. Here we discuss multivariate effects models: a multivariate fixed effects model and a multivariate random effects model.
Adam Mickiewicz University, Umultowska 87, 61-614 Poznań, Poland
Bibliografia
[1] S.E. Brockwell and I.R. Gordon, A comparison of statistical methods for meta - analysis, Statistics In Medicine 20 (2001), 825-840.
[2] R. DerSimonian and N. Laird, Meta-analysis in clinical trials, Controlled Clinical Trials 7 (1986), 177-188.
[3] L.V. Hedges and I. Olkin, Statistical Methods for meta- Analysis, Academic Press, Orlando 1985.
[4] S.L. Normand, Tutorial in biostatistics. Meta-analysis: formulating, evaluating, combining, and reporting, Statistics In Medicine 18 (1999), 321-359.