Implementing hierarchical network meta-analysis incorporating exchangeable dose effects compared to standard hierarchical network meta-analysis

Introduction Network meta-analysis (NMA) compares the efficacy or safety of more than two treatments or treatment doses that are directly or indirectly compared through a common comparator.1 2 Treatment doses are not routinely incorporated into NMAs, which potentially limits the applicability and validity of results.3 4 In this paper, we will introduce readers to NMA incorporating dose effects, specifically, how they can implement a hierarchical random effects NMA incorporating exchangeable dose effects. In particular, we share a motivating clinical example describing the comparative risk of vomiting associated with different cholinesterase inhibitor doses (ie, donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine) and use this example to illustrate (1) key similarities and differences between the standard NMA and NMA incorporating exchangeable dose effects; (2) why incorporating dose effects in NMA is important; (3) steps to follow when completing a systematic review with NMA incorporating dose...

Source: Evidence-Based Medicine - September 21, 2023 Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Watt, J., Hofmeister, M., Del Giovane, C., Turner, R., Tricco, A. C., Mavridis, D., Straus, S., Veroniki, A. A. Tags: EBM learning Source Type: research