Title
Letter to the Editor on detecting and dealing with heterogeneity in meta-analyses by Cordero and Dans
UMMS Affiliation
Division of Biostatistics and Health Services Research, Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences
Publication Date
2021-06-10
Document Type
Letter to the Editor
Disciplines
Biostatistics | Clinical Epidemiology | Epidemiology | Health Services Research
Abstract
Cordero and Dans give valuable advice on various aspects of detecting and dealing with heterogeneity in meta-analyses. For assessing statistical heterogeneity, they start with a forest plot of the study-level effect estimates and complement it with 2 related numerical measures, Q and I2. Other recommended approaches in the literature include the between-study standard deviation and a prediction interval for the effect in a new study. All these approaches have shortcomings, which investigation of heterogeneity should take into account. Surprisingly, the limitations of Q and I2, the 2 most popular, are not yet widely understood.
Keywords
Heterogeneity, Q statistic, I2
DOI of Published Version
10.1016/j.jclinepi.2021.06.003
Source
Hoaglin DC. Letter to the Editor on detecting and dealing with heterogeneity in meta-analyses by Cordero and Dans. J Clin Epidemiol. 2021 Jun 10:S0895-4356(21)00181-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2021.06.003. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34118366. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Journal of clinical epidemiology
PubMed ID
34118366
Related Resources
Repository Citation
Hoaglin DC. (2021). Letter to the Editor on detecting and dealing with heterogeneity in meta-analyses by Cordero and Dans. Population and Quantitative Health Sciences Publications. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2021.06.003. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/qhs_pp/1433