Background:

Sir Iain Chalmers in a talk entitled “The scandalous failure of scientists to cumulate scientifically”, he informed the scientific community that rather than looking at any study in isolation, we need to look at the body of evidence. Meta-analysis refers to the statistical synthesis of results from a series of studies. While the statistical procedures can be applied to any set of data, the synthesis will be meaningful only if the studies have been collected systematically. This could be in the context of a systematic review, the process of systematically locating, appraising (and then synthesizing) data from completed studies.

Meta-analyses are conducted for a variety of reasons, not only to synthesize evidence on the effects of interventions or to support evidence-based policy or practice. The purpose of the meta-analysis, or more generally, the purpose of any research synthesis has implications for when it should be performed, what model should be used to analyze the data, what sensitivity analyses should be undertaken, and how the results should be interpreted. BMJ publishes a series of journals on Evidence Based medicine, built on the results from systematic reviews. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are also used to examine the performance of diagnostic tests, epidemiological associations between exposure and disease prevalence, among other topics. This workshop gives an pportunity to learn and do practical with the help of Prof. Guido Knapp, from the Department of Statistics of TU Dortmund University, Germany and CMC Faculty.