Power Analysis for Meta Analysis

描述(由申请人提供)：荟萃分析在制定政策和规划新研究方面发挥着关键作用。在药物滥用预防领域，荟萃分析被用于确定相互竞争的成瘾治疗方法的相对影响，估计与成瘾有关的疾病的流行率，规划有针对性的干预措施，评估相互竞争的治疗方法的成本效益，并协助规划更有效的研究。系统的回顾和荟萃分析需要投入大量的时间和资源。所需时间通常为一年或更长时间，成本可能超过100万美元。因此，在开始系统评估之前，研究人员应该进行权力分析，以确保评估将具有适当的统计能力，以产生有意义的结果。然而，目前，虽然这种功率分析的公式已经公布，但还不存在实际应用这些公式的机制。这个项目的目标是开发用于荟萃分析的计算能力的软件。该程序将用于规划新的系统评价，了解已完成综述的影响，决定是否更新纳入新研究的综述，并计划一组将通过荟萃分析综合的初步研究。它将包含一个复杂的用户界面，以解决电力分析中必须解决的各种现实问题。元分析在制定政策和规划新研究方面发挥着关键作用。例如，在药物滥用预防领域，荟萃分析被用来确定相互竞争的成瘾治疗方法的相对影响。这个项目的目标是开发用于荟萃分析的计算能力的软件。该计划将用于计划新的系统审查，并了解完成审查的影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Meta-analysis plays a key role in setting policy and in planning new research. In the field of substance abuse prevention, meta-analyses have been used to determine the relative impact of competing treatments for addiction, to estimate prevalence of addiction-related diseases, to plan targeted interventions, to assess the cost-effectiveness of competing treatments, and to assist in planning more effective research. A systematic review and meta-analysis requires a substantial investment of time and resources. The time required is typically a year or more, and the cost can exceed a million dollars. Therefore, before embarking on a systematic review the researcher should conduct a power analysis to ensure that the review will have appropriate statistical power to yield a meaningful result. At present however, while the formulas for this kind of power analysis have been published, no mechanism exists for actually applying these formulas. The goal of this project is to develop software to compute power for meta-analysis. The program would be used to plan a new systematic review, to understand the implications of a completed review, to make decisions about updating a review with the inclusion of new studies, and to plan a set of primary studies that would be synthesized by meta-analysis. It will incorporate a sophisticated user interface to address the kinds of real-world issues that must be addressed in a power analysis. Meta-analysis plays a key role in setting policy and in planning new research. In the field of substance abuse prevention, for example, meta-analyses have been used to determine the relative impact of competing treatments for addiction. The goal of this project is to develop software to compute power for meta-analysis. The program would be used to plan a new systematic review and to understand the implications of a completed review.