ERIC Number: EJ1109054
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Mar
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1759-2879
EISSN: N/A
Simultaneous Synthesis of Treatment Effects and Mapping to a Common Scale: An Alternative to Standardisation
Ades, A. E.; Lu, Guobing; Dias, Sofia; Mayo-Wilson, Evan; Kounali, Daphne
Research Synthesis Methods, v6 n1 p96-107 Mar 2015
Objective: Trials often may report several similar outcomes measured on different test instruments. We explored a method for synthesising treatment effect information both within and between trials and for reporting treatment effects on a common scale as an alternative to standardisation Study design: We applied a procedure that simultaneously estimates a pooled treatment effect and the "mapping" ratios between the treatment effects on test instruments in a connected network. Standardised and non-standardised treatment effects were compared. The methods were illustrated in a dataset of 22 trials of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors against placebo for social anxiety disorder, each reporting treatment effects on between one and six of a total nine test instruments. Results: Ratios of treatment effects on different test instruments varied from trial to trial, with a coefficient of variation of 18% (95% credible interval 11-29%). Standardised effect models fitted the data less well, and standardised treatment effects were estimated with less relative precision than non-standardised effects and with greater relative heterogeneity. Conclusion: Simultaneous synthesis of treatment effects and mapping to a common scale make fewer assumptions than standardising by dividing effects by the sample standard deviation, allow results to be reported on a common scale, and deliver estimates with superior relative precision.
Descriptors: Research Methodology, Evaluation Methods, Metabolism, Accuracy, Effect Size, Statistical Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A