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Network Meta-Analysis

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Meta-Research

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2345))

Abstract

There are often multiple potential interventions to treat a disease; therefore, we need a method for simultaneously comparing and ranking all of these available interventions. In contrast to pairwise meta-analysis, which allows for the comparison of one intervention to another based on head-to-head data from randomized trials, network meta-analysis (NMA) facilitates simultaneous comparison of the efficacy or safety of multiple interventions that may not have been directly compared in a randomized trial. NMAs help researchers study important and previously unanswerable questions, which have contributed to a rapid rise in the number of NMA publications in the biomedical literature. However, the conduct and interpretation of NMAs are more complex than pairwise meta-analyses: there are additional NMA model assumptions (i.e., network connectivity, homogeneity, transitivity, and consistency) and outputs (e.g., network plots and surface under the cumulative ranking curves [SUCRAs]). In this chapter, we will: (1) explore similarities and differences between pairwise and network meta-analysis; (2) explain the differences between direct, indirect, and mixed treatment comparisons; (3) describe how treatment effects are derived from NMA models; (4) discuss key criteria predicating completion of NMA; (5) interpret NMA outputs; (6) discuss areas of ongoing methodological research in NMA; (7) outline an approach to conducting a systematic review and NMA; (8) describe common problems that researchers encounter when conducting NMAs and potential solutions; and (9) outline an approach to critically appraising a systematic review and NMA.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. St. Michael’s Hospital-Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Jennifer Watt

  2. Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Jennifer Watt

  3. Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Jennifer Watt

  4. Institute of Primary Health Care (BIHAM), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Cinzia Del Giovane

  5. Population Health Laboratory (#PopHealthLab), University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland

    Cinzia Del Giovane

Authors
  1. Jennifer Watt
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  2. Cinzia Del Giovane
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jennifer Watt .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology University of Ioannina Medical School, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Imperial College London London, UK, Ioannina, Greece

    Evangelos Evangelou

  2. Knowledge Translation Program Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital, Department of Surgery and Cancer Faculty of Medicine Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology Imperial College London, UK ISSN, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Areti Angeliki Veroniki

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Watt, J., Del Giovane, C. (2022). Network Meta-Analysis. In: Evangelou, E., Veroniki, A.A. (eds) Meta-Research. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2345. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1566-9_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1566-9_12

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-1565-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-1566-9

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