A new tool to assess Clinical Diversity In Meta ‐analyses (CDIM) of interventions

A meta-analysis of high-quality randomised clinical trials is considered the best available evidence in health care management and often forms the basis of clinical practice guidelines and for protocols of randomised clinical trials [1]. Still, undetected clinical diversity, methodological and/or statistical heterogeneity may lead to inappropriate conclusions or recommendations. Several potential sources of heterogeneity exist among trials included in systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Clinical diversity can be characterised by variability in settings, participants, characteristics of interventions and comparators, use of cointerventions, and the types and timing of outcome assessments.

Source: Journal of Clinical Epidemiology - February 5, 2021 Category: Epidemiology Authors: M Barbateskovic, TM Koster, RJ Eck, M Maagaard, A Afshari, F Blokzijl, M Cronhjort, W Dieperink, ML Fabritius, J Feinberg, C French, B Gareb, A Geisler, A Granholm, B Hiemstra, R Hu, G Imberger, BT Jensen, AB Jonsson, O Karam, DZ Kong, SK Korang, G Koster Source Type: research