FREE NEJM E-TOC    HOME   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   CURRENT ISSUE   |   PAST ISSUES   |   COLLECTIONS   |   Search Term  Advanced Search

Sign in | Get NEJM's E-Mail Table of Contents — Free | Subscribe

Previous Volume 340:958-959 March 25, 1999 Number 12 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

	Full Text Purchase this article Letters Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited Related Article by He, J. PubMed Citation

Meta-analysis — the formal combination of the research results from multiple studies — is widely used, but with little general understanding of its limitations and uncertainties. There is something quite appealing about collecting all the available research on some question and reducing it to a single figure or a single confidence interval. When properly used, this approach can be useful. However, there is broad evidence that the results of meta-analyses are often not very reliable. LeLorier et al.¹ have shown that many meta-analyses do not agree with the results of subsequent large, randomized trials, and there is little reason to . . . [Full Text of this Article]

References

Related Letters:

Passive Smoking and Coronary Heart Disease
Swanson G. D., Denson K. W.E., Wells A. J., Jamrozik K., Colditz G. A., Fuster V., Greenland P., Liu K., Rabinoff M., He J., Hughes J., Whelton P. K., Bailar J. C.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1999; 341:697-700, Aug 26, 1999. Correspondence

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Pechacek, T. F, Babb, S. (2004). How acute and reversible are the cardiovascular risks of secondhand smoke?. BMJ 328: 980-983 [Full Text]  
• Enstrom, J. E, Kabat, G. C (2003). Environmental tobacco smoke and tobacco related mortality in a prospective study of Californians, 1960-98. BMJ 326: 1057- [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Bayer, R., Colgrove, J. (2002). Science, Politics, and Ideology in the Campaign Against Environmental Tobacco Smoke. AJPH 92: 949-954 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Mann, J., Skeaff, M., Truswell, S., Hu, F. B, Sacks, F., Willett, W. C, Hooper, L., Summerbell, C. D, Thompson, R. L, Capps, N. E, Smith, G. D., Riemersma, R. A, Ebrahim, S. (2001). Dietary fats and prevention of cardiovascular disease. BMJ 323: 1000-1000 [Full Text]  
• Freedman, D. A., Petitti, D. B. (2001). Salt and Blood Pressure: Conventional Wisdom Reconsidered. Eval Rev 25: 267-287 [Abstract]  
• Smith, C. J., Fischer, T. H., Heavner, D. L., Rumple, M. A., Bowman, D. L., Brown, B. G., Morton, M. J., Doolittle, D. J. (2001). Urinary Thromboxane, Prostacyclin, Cortisol, and 8-Hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine in Nonsmokers Exposed and Not Exposed to Environmental Tobacco Smoke. Toxicol Sci 59: 316-323 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ziguras, S. J., Stuart, G. W. (2000). A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Mental Health Case Management Over 20 Years. Psychiatr. Serv. 51: 1410-1421 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Witorsch, R. J., Witorsch, P. (2000). Review : Environmental Tobacco Smoke and Respiratory Health in Children: A Critical Review and Analysis of the Literature from 1969 to 19981. Indoor and Built Environment 9: 246-264 [Abstract]  
• Swanson, G. D., Denson, K. W.E., Wells, A. J., Jamrozik, K., Colditz, G. A., Fuster, V., Greenland, P., Liu, K., Rabinoff, M., He, J., Hughes, J., Whelton, P. K., Bailar, J. C. (1999). Passive Smoking and Coronary Heart Disease. NEJM 341: 697-700 [Full Text]  
• (1999). Passive Smoking and CHD. Journal Watch Cardiology 1999: 6-6 [Full Text]  
• Stringer, J. S. A., Rouse, D. J., Goldenberg, R. L. (1999). Prophylactic Cesarean Delivery for the Prevention of Perinatal Human Immunodeficiency Virus Transmission: The Case for Restraint. JAMA 281: 1946-1949 [Full Text]