The missing piece: Why clinicians, epidemiologists, and policymakers need prediction intervals in a meta‐analysis.
- Resource Type
- Article
- Authors
- Shamim, Muhammad Aaqib; Dwivedi, Pradeep; Akhtar, Naushaba; Satapathy, Prakisini; Rustagi, Sarvesh; Padhi, Bijaya K.; Sah, Ranjit
- Source
- Obesity Reviews. Jun2024, Vol. 25 Issue 6, p1-2. 2p.
- Subject
- *MEDICAL personnel
*EPIDEMIOLOGISTS
*FORECASTING
- Language
- ISSN
- 1467-7881
This article discusses the importance of prediction intervals in systematic reviews and meta-analyses (SRMAs) when examining the association between obesity and the occurrence of multiple long-term medical conditions (MLTC-M). The authors argue that prediction intervals provide valuable information about the variance and spread of the effect size, allowing for better predictions of future studies and real-world applications. They also highlight the need to address heterogeneity and explain extreme data in SRMAs, as well as the importance of precise reporting of the search strategy for reproducibility. The authors emphasize the importance of methodological robustness in SRMAs and call for researchers to do justice to their topics and justify the trust placed in their work. [Extracted from the article]