ISSN 1518 0557
The Impact of Meta-analyses on Medical Decisions

2015; 19
José Gonçalves Franco Junior, João Batista A. Oliveira
JBRA Assist. Reprod. 2015; 19 (3):109-110

Abstract

Evidence-based medicine has elevated meta-analyses to the status of key parameter in medical decision-making (Sigman, 2011; Humaidan & Polyzos, 2012; Walker et al., 2008). Every year, over 6,000 meta-analyses are published in medical journals and submitted to the appreciation of physicians, who then have to analyze their conclusions and use them to support medical decisions. ART does not escape this rule, and meta-analyses concerning topics ripe with controversy – PGS (Preimplantation Genetic Screening), GnRH agonists vs. GnRH antagonists, endometrial injury, androgen therapy for women with poor ovarian response, etc. – are frequently published. On the other hand, some meta-analyzes have conclusions that periodically change with the addition of only one new prospective randomized trial; we could say it is on the borderline of statistical significance. This also adds to the uncertainty physicians are faced with because the idea of accepting or not the use of the methodology in question is periodically changing.


This Article

doi: 10.5935/1518-0557.20150024

Full Text (HTML)
Full Text (PDF)

Classifications

Editorial

How to cite

How to cite this article

Send this article

Send this article by mail

Access statistics

Last 30 days: 53
All time: 21892


Home

 
Copyright 2026 - JBRA Assisted Reproduction - All rights reserved.
Support and Maintenance by Eniosoft