Meta-analysis: Its strengths and limitations

  • Esteban Walker
  • , Adrian V. Hernandez
  • , Michael W. Kattan

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

437 Scopus citations

Abstract

Nowadays, doctors face an overwhelming amount of information, even in narrow areas of interest. In response, reviews designed to summarize the large volumes of information are frequently published. When a review is done systematically, following certain criteria, and the results are pooled and analyzed quantitatively, it is called a meta-analysis. A well-designed meta-analysis can provide valuable information for researchers, policy-makers, and clinicians. However, there are many critical caveats in performing and interpreting them, and thus many ways in which meta-analyses can yield misleading information.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)431-439
Number of pages9
JournalCleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
Volume75
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2008
Externally publishedYes

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