Puhan MA, Schünemann HJ, Murad MH, Li T, Brignardello-Petersen R, Singh JA, Kessels AG, Guyatt GH; GRADE Working Group.
BMJ. 2014 Sep 24;349:g5630. doi: 10.1136/bmj.g5630.
Network meta-analysis (NMA), combining direct and indirect comparisons, is increasingly being used to examine the comparative effectiveness of medical interventions. Minimal guidance exists on how to rate the quality of evidence supporting treatment effect estimates obtained from NMA.
We present a four-step approach to rate
the quality of evidence in each of the direct, indirect, and NMA estimates
based on methods developed by the GRADE working group. Using an example of a
published NMA, we show that the quality of evidence supporting NMA estimates
varies from high to very low across comparisons, and that quality ratings given
to a whole network are uninformative and likely to mislead.
