Validity of indirect comparison for estimating efficacy of competing interventions: empirical evidence from published meta-analyses.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To determine the validity of adjusted indirect comparisons by using data from published meta-analyses of randomised trials.

Design

Direct comparison of different interventions in randomised trials and adjusted indirect comparison in which two interventions were compared through their relative effect versus a common comparator. The discrepancy between the direct and adjusted indirect comparison was measured by the difference between the two estimates.

Data sources

Database of abstracts of reviews of effectiveness (1994-8), the Cochrane database of systematic reviews, Medline, and references of retrieved articles.

Results

44 published meta-analyses (from 28 systematic reviews) provided sufficient data. In most cases, results of adjusted indirect compari

SUBMITTER: Song F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC150178 | biostudies-literature | 2003 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature