Extending Treatment Networks in Health Technology Assessment: How Far Should We Go?

ABSTRACT:

Background

Network meta-analysis may require substantially more resources than does a standard systematic review. One frequently asked question is "how far should I extend the network and which treatments should I include?"

Objective

To explore the increase in precision from including additional evidence.

Methods

We assessed the benefit of extending treatment networks in terms of precision of effect estimates and examined how this depends on network structure and relative strength of additional evidence. We introduced a "star"-shaped network. Network complexity is increased by adding more evidence connecting treatments under five evidence scenarios. We also examined the impact of heterogeneity and absence of evidence facilitating a "first-order" indirect comparison.

SUBMITTER: Caldwell DM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4553939 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature