Cited by 180Meta-analysis and systematic reviewsStatistical Methods in EpidemiologyStatistical Methods in Clinical Trials

How to interpret meta-analysis models: fixed effect and random effects meta-analyses

Open access
Nikolakopoulou, Adriani, Mavridis, Dimitris, Salanti, Georgia·2014·Evidence Based Mental Health

Abstract

This section of the journal is aimed at providing the essential information readers should know about the topics that are addressed in the ‘Statistics in practice’ paper published in the same issue of the journal. This stand-alone section has to be seen as an articulated summary of the main notions clinicians have to know about some basic concepts in statistics, which may be useful for their evidence-based practice. After going through these notes, readers are encouraged to read the ‘Statistics in practice’ articles. Of course, we welcome any feedback from you (via email or Twitter) about this! The EBMH Editors Relative treatment effects studied in trials are typically measured using an effect size. The observed effect sizes are synthesised to obtain a summary treatment effect via meta-analysis.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1136/eb-2014-101794

Cites

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Nikolakopoulou, A., Mavridis, D., & Salanti, G.
Affiliations
University of Ioannina (GR)
Corresponding author
Mavridis, Dimitris
Venue
Evidence Based Mental Health
Publisher
BMJ
Published
2014-04-23
Volume
17
Issue
2
Pages
64-64
ISSN
  • 1362-0347 (ISSN-L)
  • 1468-960X
OpenAlex
W2087189655
Cited by
180
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 46 · 2024: 43 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 2
FWCI
2.29
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Evidence-Based Mental Health (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Meta-analysis and systematic reviews
  • Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Statistical Methods in Epidemiology
  • Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Statistical Methods in Clinical Trials
Keywords
fixed-effects meta-analysis, random-effects meta-analysis, effect size, heterogeneity, evidence-based practice
MeSH terms
Data Interpretation, Statistical, Humans, Meta-Analysis as Topic, Models, Statistical

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review