Department of Orthopeadic Surgery, The Rothman Institute, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA.
Clin Spine Surg. 2024 Feb 1;37(1):40-42. doi: 10.1097/BSD.0000000000001534. Epub 2023 Sep 8.
Meta-analyses represent the best available medical evidence. Although a powerful tool, they are not without criticisms since any bias in the original studies are then compounded when they are pooled together for the meta-analysis. Funnel plots provide a useful graphical representation of the presence of bias, and forest plots represent the heterogeneity of findings within studies included in a meta-analysis. The purpose of this review is to help readers interpret these statistical tools to better understand the findings of a meta-analysis.
荟萃分析代表了当前最佳的医学证据。尽管荟萃分析是一种强有力的工具，但它们并非没有缺陷，因为当原始研究中的任何偏倚被汇集在一起进行荟萃分析时，这些偏倚就会被放大。漏斗图提供了一种有用的图形表示方法，可以显示偏倚的存在情况，森林图则表示荟萃分析中包含的研究结果的异质性。本文的目的是帮助读者解释这些统计工具，以更好地理解荟萃分析的结果。
