Table 2

Meta-analyses Selected for Review

Brief Title
Year
Medical Condition
Treatment 1 v Treatment 2
Failure Outcome
No. of studies (RCT, OS)
Reasons for excluding OSs previously compared to RCTs [13]

Anticoagulants
1977
Myocardial Infarction
Control v Anticoagulants
Mortality
Ioannidis: (6, 12) Kunz: (6, 12)
Three used alternately assigned controls [23-25].
Quinidine
1992
Atrial fibrillation
Control v Quinidine
Relapse into atrial fibrillation
Ioannidis: (6, 5) Kunz: (6, 6)
One did not have 3-month follow-up [53].
Trial of Labor
1995
Breech delivery
No trial v Trial of Labor
5 minute Apgar
Ioannidis: (2, 6)
None excluded.
Colposuspension 1
1996
Incontinence
Anterior colporrhaphy v Colposuspension
No cure of incontinence
Ioannidis: (4, 11)
Five were in a foreign language [54-58].
Colposuspension 2
1996
Incontinence
Needle suspension v Colposuspension
No cure of incontinence
Ioannidis: (3, 9)
One used failed surgery instead of incontinence as an outcome [59]. One was a controlled trial [26]. Three were in a foreign language [55, 56, 60].
Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)
1996
Post-operative pain
Control v TENS
No pain relief
Ioannidis: (2, 4) Kunz: (17, 19)
None excluded.
Early Discharge
1997
Childbirth
Conventional v Early
Maternal Morbidity
Ioannidis: (1, 3)
Added one study from original meta-analysis [36].
Hip screw
1999
Hip fracture
Fixed nail plates v Sliding hip screw
Total complications
Ioannidis: (1, 6)
One "OS" was an RCT [27].
Local Anesthesia
1996
Carotid Endarterectomy
General v Local Anesthesia
Stroke or death
Ioannidis: (3, 14)
One from a non-peer reviewed abstract [61], 1 from unpublished data [62], one in a foreign language [63].
Hysterosalpingo-graphy (HSG)
1999
Infertility
Water v Oil in Hysterosalpingography
No Pregnancy
Ioannidis: (5, 6)
None excluded.

RCT = Randomized Controlled Trial

OS = Observational Study

Hartz et al. Emerging Themes in Epidemiology 2005 2:8   doi:10.1186/1742-7622-2-8