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的研究中起着关键作用。在预防药物滥用领域，元分析被用来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。系统综述和荟萃分析需要大量的时间和资源投入。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，在进行系统评价之前，研究者应进行功效分析，以确保评价具有适当的统计功效，从而产生有意义的结果。然而，目前，虽然这种功率分析的公式已经公布，但实际应用这些公式的机制并不存在。这个项目的目标是开发软件来计算荟萃分析的能力。该计划将用于计划一项新的系统性综述，了解已完成综述的含义，决定是否更新纳入新研究的综述，并计划一组通过荟萃分析综合的主要研究。它将包含一个复杂的用户界面，以解决在功耗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的研究中发挥着关键作用。例如，在药物滥用预防领域，元分析被用来确定相互竞争的成瘾治疗的相对影响。这个项目的目标是开发软件来计算荟萃分析的能力。该计划将用于计划一项新的系统性综述，并了解已完成综述的含义。

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.