Doctors and regulatory agencies rely on meta-analyses when setting clinical guidelines and making decisions about drugs. However, as the number of these analyses increases, it's clear that many of them lack robust evidence from randomized trials, which may lead to the adoption of treatment modalities of ambiguous value. Without a more disciplined approach requiring a reasonable minimum amount of data, meta-analyses could lose credibility.
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Humaidan, P., Polyzos, N. (Meta)analyze this: Systematic reviews might lose credibility. Nat Med 18, 1321 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0912-1321
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0912-1321
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