Extending methods for investigating the relationship between treatment effect and baseline risk from pairwise meta-analysis to network meta-analysis.

Baseline risk is a proxy for unmeasured but important patient-level characteristics, which may be modifiers of treatment effect, and is a potential source of heterogeneity in meta-analysis. Models adjusting for baseline risk have been developed for pairwise meta-analysis using the observed event rate in the placebo arm and taking into account the measurement error in the covariate to ensure that an unbiased estimate of the relationship is obtained. Our objective is to extend these methods to network meta-analysis where it is of interest to adjust for baseline imbalances in the non-intervention group event rate to reduce both heterogeneity and possibly inconsistency.

The use and reporting of WOMAC in the assessment of the benefit of physical therapies for the pain of osteoarthritis of the knee: findings from a systematic review of clinical trials.

Objective: For the purposes of meta-analysis and network meta-analysis, the use of standard outcome measures is ideal. In OA research, the WOMAC was developed as an OA-specific measure of disability. It includes a pain subscale.

Economic evaluation of enhanced staff contact for the promotion of breastfeeding for low birth weight infants.

Objectives: There is evidence that breastmilk feeding reduces mortality and short and long-term morbidity among infants born too soon or too small. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of enhanced staff contact for mothers with infants in a neonatal unit with a birth weight of 500-2,500 g from the perspective of the UK National Health Service.

Methods: A decision-tree model linked clinical outcomes with long-term health outcomes.