Description of network meta-analysis geometry: A metrics design study

Tonin, FS; Borba, HH; Mendes, AM; Wiens, A; Fernandez-Llimos, F; Pontarolo, R

Description of network meta-analysis geometry: A metrics design study

Tonin, FS Borba, HH Mendes, AM Wiens, A Fernandez-Llimos, F

Pontarolo, R

Permalink

Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: PLoS ONE, 2019, 14 (2)
Issue Date:: 2019-02-01

Open Access

Copyright Clearance Process

Recently Added
In Progress
Open Access

This item is open access.

Adobe PDF

Download Published VersionAdobe PDF (1.23 MB)

View on publisher's site

View statistics

Full metadata record

Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Tonin, FS	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Borba, HH	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Mendes, AM	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Wiens, A	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Fernandez-Llimos, F https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8529-9595	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Pontarolo, R	en_US
dc.date.available	2019-02-06	en_US
dc.date.issued	2019-02-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	PLoS ONE, 2019, 14 (2)	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/136059
dc.description.abstract	© 2019 Tonin et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Background The conduction and report of network meta-analysis (NMA), including the presentation of the network-plot, should be transparent. We aimed to propose metrics adapted from graph theory and social network-analysis literature to numerically describe NMA geometry. Methods A previous systematic review of NMAs of pharmacological interventions was performed. Data on the graph’s presentation were collected. Network-plots were reproduced using Gephi 0.9.1. Eleven geometric metrics were tested. The Spearman test for non-parametric correlation analyses and the Bland-Altman and Lin’s Concordance tests were performed (IBM SPSS Statistics 24.0). Results From the 477 identified NMAs only 167 graphs could be reproduced because they provided enough information on the plot characteristics. The median nodes and edges were 8 (IQR 6–11) and 10 (IQR 6–16), respectively, with 22 included studies (IQR 13–35). Metrics such as density (median 0.39, ranged 0.07–1.00), median thickness (2.0, IQR 1.0–3.0), percentages of common comparators (median 68%), and strong edges (median 53%) were found to contribute to the description of NMA geometry. Mean thickness, average weighted degree and average path length produced similar results than other metrics, but they can lead to misleading conclusions. Conclusions We suggest the incorporation of seven simple metrics to report NMA geometry. Editors and peer-reviews should ensure that guidelines for NMA report are strictly followed before publication.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	PLoS ONE	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1371/journal.pone.0212650	en_US
dc.subject.classification	General Science & Technology	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Humans	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Bibliometrics	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Databases, Bibliographic	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Publishing	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Data Mining	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Network Meta-Analysis	en_US
dc.title	Description of network meta-analysis geometry: A metrics design study	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	2	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	14	en_US
utslib.for	0101 Pure Mathematics	en_US
utslib.for	0102 Applied Mathematics	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Graduate School of Health
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	2	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	14	en_US

Abstract:

© 2019 Tonin et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Background The conduction and report of network meta-analysis (NMA), including the presentation of the network-plot, should be transparent. We aimed to propose metrics adapted from graph theory and social network-analysis literature to numerically describe NMA geometry. Methods A previous systematic review of NMAs of pharmacological interventions was performed. Data on the graph’s presentation were collected. Network-plots were reproduced using Gephi 0.9.1. Eleven geometric metrics were tested. The Spearman test for non-parametric correlation analyses and the Bland-Altman and Lin’s Concordance tests were performed (IBM SPSS Statistics 24.0). Results From the 477 identified NMAs only 167 graphs could be reproduced because they provided enough information on the plot characteristics. The median nodes and edges were 8 (IQR 6–11) and 10 (IQR 6–16), respectively, with 22 included studies (IQR 13–35). Metrics such as density (median 0.39, ranged 0.07–1.00), median thickness (2.0, IQR 1.0–3.0), percentages of common comparators (median 68%), and strong edges (median 53%) were found to contribute to the description of NMA geometry. Mean thickness, average weighted degree and average path length produced similar results than other metrics, but they can lead to misleading conclusions. Conclusions We suggest the incorporation of seven simple metrics to report NMA geometry. Editors and peer-reviews should ensure that guidelines for NMA report are strictly followed before publication.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/136059