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Appraisal of meta-analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Apu Chakraborty
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital Pond Street, London NW3 2QG; e-mail warner@rfhsm.ac.uk
James P. Warner*
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital Pond Street, London NW3 2QG; e-mail warner@rfhsm.ac.uk
Robert Blizard
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital Pond Street, London NW3 2QG; e-mail warner@rfhsm.ac.uk
*
Correspondence
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Abstract

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Aims and method

Prompted by a clinical question, we critically appraised a meta-analysis of neuroimaging in our evidence-based journal club.

Results

The results of the meta-analysis suggested differences in ventricular size and sulcal width between controls and people with schizophrenia and mood disorders. However, we were unable to answer the question that prompted this exercise.

Clinical implications

Although the evidence-based medicine approach facilitates appraisal of complex articles, some clinical questions are not yet answerable.

Type
Evidence-Based Psychiatry
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

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