Friedenreich C M
Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Epidemiology. 1993 Jul;4(4):295-302. doi: 10.1097/00001648-199307000-00004.
This paper presents a systematic methodology for the pooling and analysis of previously conducted epidemiologic studies. It discusses the methodologic issues to consider and the procedures to follow when conducting a pooled analysis of individual subject level data. I review random and fixed effects models to estimate pooled risks and the methods to examine whether heterogeneity in study-specific effect estimates exists. Analytic strategies presented here can be used to assess sources of heterogeneity, particularly those originating from different study designs and methods. I describe methods for incorporating a qualitative assessment of the study design and data collection methods into the quantitative estimation of the overall effect. Finally, I make recommendations for future pooled analyses of epidemiologic studies.
本文介绍了一种用于汇总和分析先前进行的流行病学研究的系统方法。它讨论了在对个体受试者水平数据进行汇总分析时需要考虑的方法学问题以及应遵循的程序。我回顾了用于估计汇总风险的随机和固定效应模型，以及检验特定研究效应估计中是否存在异质性的方法。本文提出的分析策略可用于评估异质性的来源，特别是那些源自不同研究设计和方法的异质性。我描述了将对研究设计和数据收集方法的定性评估纳入总体效应定量估计的方法。最后，我对未来流行病学研究的汇总分析提出了建议。
