Re: st: Meta analysis of studies with varying duration of follow-up

["Ben Dwamena" <bdwamena@med.umich.edu>]

I hope the reference below is helpful:
P. Bagos and G.K. Nikolopoulos Mixed-Effects Poisson Regression Models for Meta-Analysis of Follow-Up Studies with Constant or Varying Durations.The International Journal of Biostatistics Vol. 5 (2009) / Issue 1
Ben


Ben Adarkwa Dwamena, MD

Assistant Professor of  Radiology
Division of Nuclear Medicine
Department of Radiology
University of Michigan Medical School
1500 E. Medical Center Drive
B1  G505   University  Hospital
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0028

bdwamena@umich.edu

http://sitemaker.umich.edu/metadiagnosis



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>>> Sripal Kumar  06/17/10 7:41 AM >>>
Hi,

I am working on a meta analysis of randomized trials for an outcome
(categorical) for treatment vs. controls, but the studies all have
varying lengths of follow up.  The length of follow up between the
treatment and controls is the same but differs between studies.  What
would be a good approach to consider when pooling such data?

I considered using hazard ratios, but the issue is there are very few
studies which report that.  Do you think using person years (no of
patients x follow-up in years) and weighting the studies based on this
would be reasonable approach?

thanks,
Sripal.
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