Meta-analysis using SPSS: a simple guide for clinicians, public health, and allied health specialists

Abstract

Systematic review and meta-analysis and other forms of evidence syntheses are critical to inform guideline development and healthcare decision-making. Various software is available now a days to conduct meta-analysis. Some of them are code-based, few are not freely available, and some others have obvious limitations. SPSS is the most commonly used statistical package and has a graphical user interface making it user friendly. A recent version (v29) of SPSS has introduced the functionality for meta-analysis. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive and clear guide to public health, clinicians, and allied health professionals to perform and report a meta-analysis using SPSS. We have first briefly explained few key statistical concepts relevant to meta-analysis. Then, we have provided three solved examples for meta-analysis using attached example datasets. We have also provided the interpretation and reporting for these three cases. Next, we have discussed about ancillary cases, and how meta-analysts can deal with other scenarios. Finally, we have provided the developers of SPSS with some suggestions for improvements and enhancement for incorporation in the future versions of this software.

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