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Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Using N-of-1 Trials

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The Essential Guide to N-of-1 Trials in Health

Abstract

This chapter discusses issues and approaches related to systematic review and meta-analysis of N-of-1 trials. Some basic guidelines and methods are described in this chapter. Some important steps in a systematic review of these types of trials are discussed in detail. This is followed by a detailed description of meta-analytic methods, spanning both frequentist and Bayesian techniques. A previously undertaken meta-analysis of a comparison of treatments for fibromyalgia syndrome is discussed with some sample size considerations. This is further elaborated on through a discussion on the statistical power of studies through a comparison of treatments for chronic pain. The chapter concludes with some final thoughts about the aggregation of evidence from individual N-of-1 trials.

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Correspondence to Kerrie Mengersen .

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Mengersen, K., McGree, J.M., Schmid, C.H. (2015). Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Using N-of-1 Trials. In: Nikles, J., Mitchell, G. (eds) The Essential Guide to N-of-1 Trials in Health. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7200-6_16

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