16 Meta Analysis

On watching this video students should be able to:

1. State the information that is needed to perform a meta-analysis
2. Describe the key conceptual differences behind a fixed effects and random effects meta-analysis and explain when one may be preferred over the other.
3. Describe what is meant by study heterogeneity & interpret an I-squared statistic.
4. Interpret a forest plot.
5. State how heterogeneity can be explored within a meta-analysis.
6. List the limitations of systematic reviews and meta-analysis (eg; “rubbish in, rubbish out” -if all original studies are biased then you’ll just get a more precise biased estimate)
7. Understand what publication bias is and how to interpret a funnel plot