Abstract
Network meta-analysis allows researchers to synthesise both direct and indirect evidence, thus enabling simultaneous comparisons of multiple treatments. A relatively recent addition to evidence synthesis in reproductive medicine, this approach has become increasingly popular. Yet, the underlying assumptions of network meta-analyses, which drive the validity of their findings, have been frequently ignored. In this article, we discuss the strengths and limitations of network meta-analyses. In addition, we present an overview of published network meta-analyses in reproductive medicine, summarize their challenges and provide insights into future research opportunities.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1723-1731 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Human reproduction (Oxford, England) |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| Early online date | 14 Jul 2020 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 2020 |
Bibliographical note
FundingR.W. was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Keywords
- certainty of evidence
- evidence synthesis
- infertility
- meta-analysis
- network meta-analysis
- reporting
- reproductive medicine
- systematic review
- transitivity