Meta-Analysis in Stata

This course aims to provide participants with the theoretical and applied knowledge necessary to carry out a systematic review of scientific literature for the study of a well-defined hypothesis. To this end, the course focuses on the statistical aspects of the systematic review process, known as meta-analysis, the emphasis being place on the interpretation and presentation of results, as opposed to the more theoretical computational aspects of metaanalyses.

In line with the general philosophy of our training courses, the lessons themselves are highly interactive and largely applied in nature. The original in presence course having been restructured into a series of separate modules in order to facilitate the transition to an effective online teaching format. Despite the online nature of the course, participants will be able to both replicate the commands illustrated by the lecturer in real time using the databases provided at the beginning of the course and be expected to take part in applied data sections.

COURSE OUTCOME:

At the end of the course, participants are expected to:

• understand the fundamental concepts and principles of meta-analysis;
• have attained an understanding of “real world” data related to meta-analysis through this hands-on experience; and
• be able to carry out a statistical systematic review of scientific literature (with the help of the Stata routine templates specifically developed for the course) independently implementing the Stata meta-analysis commands illustrated during the course in their own research context.

This course is of particular interest to graduate students, academic researchers and professionals working in the public health and medical sectors.

A working knowledge of the basic principles of biostatistics and epidemiology, as well as a basic knowledge of the statistical software Stata.

SESSION I

• Introduction to Stata
• Stages of a systematic review
• Measures of treatment effect (odds ratio, risk ratio, difference in means, hazard ratio)
• Statistical methods for meta-analyses: fixed-effect and random-effects models
• Introduction to Stata’s meta suite of commands
• Graphical representation of meta-analysis results using the forest plot

SESSION II

• Quantifying the degree of heterogeneity across different studies
  • Subgroup analysis
  • Meta-regression
• Publication bias: Funnel Plot, Egger’s test and the related Stata commands for itsestimation (meta funnelplot, meta bias)

USEFUL REFERENCES

• Schmid, C. H., Stijnen, T. & White, I. R. (2021). Handbook of Meta-Analysis. CRC Press.
• Palmer, T. M. & Sterne, J. A. C. (2016) Meta-Analysis in Stata: An Updated Collection from the Stata Journal. Second Edition. Stata Press.

We are currently adding the finishing touches to our 2026 training calendar. We therefore ask you to check our website regularly or contact us at training@tstat.eu should the dates for the course you are interested in not be published yet. You will then be contacted via email as soon as the dates are available.