Distribution and epidemiological characteristics of published individual patient data meta-analyses.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Individual patient data meta-analyses (IPDMAs) prevail as the gold standard in clinical evaluations. We investigated the distribution and epidemiological characteristics of published IPDMA articles.

Methodology/principal findings

IPDMA articles were identified through comprehensive literature searches from PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane library. Two investigators independently conducted article identification, data classification and extraction. Data related to the article characteristics were collected and analyzed descriptively. A total of 829 IPDMA articles indexed until 9 August 2012 were identified. An average of 3.7 IPDMA articles was published per year. Malignant neoplasms (267 [32.2%]) and circulatory diseases (179 [21.6%]) were the most frequently occurring

SUBMITTER: Huang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4063791 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature