COMPREHENSIVE META ANALYSIS EXCEL SOFTWARE

However, the learning curve for using WinBUGS to conduct network meta-analyses successfully can be daunting for new users, given the challenges of understanding WinBUGS code.

COMPREHENSIVE META ANALYSIS EXCEL SOFTWARE

WinBUGS is a freely available software package available for Bayesian data analysis and has been the most widely used package to conduct network meta-analyses to date. Among them, the latter has been the more commonly used framework, likely because the methods have evolved more quickly, because Bayesian methods provide greater flexibility to use more complex models and different outcome types, and because Bayesian methods are easily integrated into health economic evaluations. Д«oth Frequentist and Bayesian approaches for conducting network meta-analysis are feasible. Not surprisingly, the increasing need to compare multiple treatments for medical conditions has been mirrored by the dramatic rise in the use of network meta-analysis in recent years. This new method is referred to as network meta-analysis (NMA) (other terms such as mixed-treatment comparison meta-analysis and multiple treatments meta-analysis have also been used). Accordingly, new meta-analytic methods have emerged which permit simultaneous comparison of multiple treatments. However, many medical conditions exist for which there are a multitude of possible treatment alternatives. An important limitation of standard meta-analysis (i.e., pairwise meta-analysis) is that it compares only two treatments at a time. Meta-analysis is a statistical method commonly used to combine summary estimates of treatment effects from a collection of studies to establish the benefits and harms of competing interventions. NetMetaXL also allows for more efficient and transparent critical appraisal of network meta-analyses, enhanced standardization of reporting, and integration with health economic evaluations which are frequently Excel-based.

Use of the freely available NetMetaXL successfully demonstrated its ability to make running network meta-analyses more accessible to novice WinBUGS users by allowing analyses to be conducted entirely within Microsoft Excel. We replicate results from the previous publication while demonstrating result summaries generated by the software. We demonstrate the application of NetMetaXL using data from a network meta-analysis published previously which compares combined resynchronization and implantable defibrillator therapy in left ventricular dysfunction. All figures generated are publication quality, thereby increasing the efficiency of knowledge transfer and manuscript preparation. It also contains macros that use NetMetaXLвЂ™s interface to generate evidence network diagrams, forest plots, league tables of pairwise comparisons, probability plots (rankograms), and inconsistency plots within Microsoft Excel. This tool allows the user to easily prepare and enter data, set model assumptions, and run the network meta-analysis, with results being automatically displayed in an Excel spreadsheet. We developed a freely available Microsoft-Excel-based tool called NetMetaXL, programmed in Visual Basic for Applications, which provides an interface for conducting a Bayesian network meta-analysis using WinBUGS from within Microsoft Excel. Furthermore, critical appraisal of network meta-analyses conducted in WinBUGS can be challenging given its limited data manipulation capabilities and the fact that generation of graphical output from network meta-analyses often relies on different software packages than the analyses themselves. However, the learning curve for WinBUGS can be daunting, especially for new users.

WinBUGS, a freely available Bayesian software package, has been the most widely used software package to conduct network meta-analyses. The use of network meta-analysis has increased dramatically in recent years.

Comprehensive meta analysis excel