Metaanalysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Metaanalysis - Essay Example From the discussion it is clear that  Meta-analysis is the quantitative section of a systematic review. It is the end result of combining the statistical results of multiple studies in order to get a weighted average effect of the intervention under consideration. The studies that provide more information will give more weight, the larger the sample size the more weight it will provide. Usually, the average effect across trials is reported as an overall summary point estimate and an estimate of its precision as reflected in the width of the confidence interval.  As the essay highlights  a well-conducted systematic review and Meta-analysis can help us keep up-to-date. High-quality systematic review can define the boundaries of what is known and what is not known and helps us not to omit what has already been proven. Medical practitioners are therefore aided in determining solutions for specific clinical hurdles through analysis of inconsistencies among diverse pieces of research evidence. This is done by summarizing existing data, refining hypotheses, estimating sample size and providing a definition for future research agendas. Without them, researchers risk missing and therefore omitting promising leads in their quest for problem solution or they may incur redundancy through embarking on studies of questions that have been already answered.  Meta-analysis utilizes the quantitative combination of outcomes from several undertaken studies to create more precise, powerful and convincing conclusions.