Chapter 26 – Meta-Analysis in R

Guido Schwarzer

Abstract

The general statistical package R can be used to conduct basic meta-analysis tasks. This chapter starts with a short introduction to R and an explanation of how to install R packages. R functions for meta-analysis with binary outcomes are introduced and applied to two classic meta-analysis examples. Meta-regression with R is described along with methods to evaluate small-study effects. The chapter concludes with an overview of R packages and functions for more advanced statistical methods such as network meta-analysis.

Corrections

There are currently no corrections for this chapter.

Practicals

All R command and functions described in the chapter can be replicated. The datasets used are available as part of the meta or metafor packages.

Author affiliations

Guido Schwarzer

Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center, Institute of Medical Biometry and Statistics, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

How to cite this chapter?

For the printed version of the book

Schwarzer, G. (2022). Chapter 26. Meta-analysis in R. In: Systematic Reviews in Health Research: Meta-analysis in Context (eds M. Egger, J.P.T. Higgins and G. Davey Smith), pp 510-534. Hoboken, NJ : Wiley.

For the electronic version of the book

Schwarzer, G. (2022). Chapter 26. Meta-analysis in R. In: Systematic Reviews in Health Research: Meta-analysis in Context (eds M. Egger, J.P.T. Higgins and G. Davey Smith). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119099369.ch26