Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37197798›Full record

ArticleBMJ mental health2023

Crossroads of methodological choices in research synthesis: insights from two network meta-analyses on preventing relapse in schizophrenia.

Giovanni Ostuzzi, Johannes Schneider-Thoma, Federico Tedeschi, Stefan Leucht, Corrado Barbui

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ mental health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 37% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 1 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Giovanni OstuzziWHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Università degli Studi di Verona, Verona, Italy giovanni.ostuzzi@univr.it.ORCID 0000-0003-2248-9524
Johannes Schneider-ThomaDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-3448-9532
Federico TedeschiWHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Università degli Studi di Verona, Verona, Italy.
Stefan LeuchtDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-4934-4352
Corrado BarbuiWHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Università degli Studi di Verona, Verona, Italy.
University of Verona · ITTechnical University of Munich · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In recent years, network meta-analyses have been increasingly carried out to inform clinical guidelines and policy. This approach is under constant development, and a broad consensus on how to carry out several of its methodological and statistical steps is still lacking. Therefore, different working groups might often make different methodological choices based on their clinical and research experience, with possible advantages and shortcomings. In this contribution, we will critically assess two network meta-analyses on the topic of pharmacological prevention of relapse in schizophrenia, carried out by two different research groups. We will highlight the implications of different methodological choices on the analysis results and their clinical-epidemiological interpretation. Moreover, we will discuss some of the most relevant technical issues of network meta-analyses for which there is not a broad methodological agreement, including the assessment of transitivity.

Indexed as

SchizophreniaChronic DiseaseHumansNetwork Meta-Analysis as TopicRecurrenceSchizophrenia & psychotic disorders

Identifiers

PMID37197798
PMCPMC10231437
OpenAlexW4377002127

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.