Meta-analysis of prevalence

Meta-analysis is a method to obtain a weighted average of results from various studies. In addition to pooling effect sizes, meta-analysis can also be used to estimate disease frequencies, such as incidence and prevalence. In this article we present methods for the meta-analysis of prevalence. We discuss the logit and double arcsine transformations to stabilise the variance. We note the special situation of multiple category prevalence, and propose solutions to the problems that arise. We describe the implementation of these methods in the MetaXL software, and present a simulation study and the example of multiple sclerosis from the Global Burden of Disease 2010 project. We conclude that the double arcsine transformation is preferred over the logit, and that the MetaXL implementation of multiple category prevalence is an improvement in the methodology of the meta-analysis of prevalence.

[1]  A. Al-araji,et al.  Multiple sclerosis in Iraq: Does it have the same features encountered in Western countries? , 2005, Journal of the Neurological Sciences.

[2]  Hsiang-Yu Yu,et al.  Multiple sclerosis in Taiwan. , 2004, Journal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA.

[3]  J. Castillo,et al.  Multiple sclerosis in Chile , 1992, Acta neurologica Scandinavica.

[4]  Z. Stelmasiak,et al.  [Epidemiological aspects of multiple sclerosis in Lublin (Poland)]. , 2004, Neurologia i neurochirurgia polska.

[5]  R. Forbes,et al.  An epidemiologic study of multiple sclerosis in Northern Ireland. , 1999, Neurology.

[6]  P. Modrego,et al.  Prevalence of multiple sclerosis in the province of Teruel, Spain , 1997, Journal of Neurology.

[7]  L. Thalib,et al.  Combining heterogenous studies using the random-effects model is a mistake and leads to inconclusive meta-analyses. , 2011, Journal of clinical epidemiology.

[8]  S. Kikuchi,et al.  The prevalence and clinical characteristics of MS in northern Japan , 2003, Journal of the Neurological Sciences.

[9]  N. Laird,et al.  Meta-analysis in clinical trials. , 1986, Controlled clinical trials.

[10]  P. Klivényi,et al.  The prealence of multiple sclerosis in the Hungarian city of Szeged , 1998, Acta neurologica Scandinavica.

[11]  Miguel Angel Tola Arribas,et al.  Prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Valladolid, northern Spain , 1999, Journal of Neurology.

[12]  M. Addidle,et al.  Multiple sclerosis is more prevalent in northern New Zealand than previously reported , 2003, Internal medicine journal.

[13]  P. Klivényi,et al.  The Prevalence of Multiple Sclerosis, Distribution of Clinical Forms of the Disease and Functional Status of Patients in Csongrád County, Hungary , 2001, European Neurology.

[14]  P. Cabre,et al.  MS and neuromyelitis optica in Martinique (French West Indies) , 2001, Neurology.

[15]  R. Fossdal,et al.  The natural history of untreated multiple sclerosis in Iceland. A total population-based 50 year prospective study , 2002, Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery.

[16]  Suhail A R Doi,et al.  A Quality-Effects Model for Meta-Analysis , 2008, Epidemiology.

[17]  J. Tukey,et al.  Transformations Related to the Angular and the Square Root , 1950 .

[18]  L. Thalib,et al.  An alternative quality adjustor for the quality effects model for meta-analysis. , 2009, Epidemiology.

[19]  Suhail A R Doi,et al.  Meta-analysis of heterogeneous clinical trials: an empirical example. , 2011, Contemporary clinical trials.

[20]  Mark W. Lipsey,et al.  Practical Meta-Analysis , 2000 .

[21]  S. Weigand,et al.  Disability profile of MS did not change over 10 years in a population-based prevalence cohort , 2004, Neurology.

[22]  J. Miller,et al.  The Inverse of the Freeman – Tukey Double Arcsine Transformation , 1978 .

[23]  E. Granieri,et al.  An epidemiological study of multiple sclerosis in central Sardinia, Italy , 1998, Acta neurologica Scandinavica.

[24]  W. Arruda,et al.  Multiple sclerosis: report on 200 cases from Curitiba, Southern Brazil and comparison with other Brazilian series. , 2001, Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria.