When would you use an indirect comparison?
It is often used when there is no evidence or insufficient evidence from head-to-head trials, or when more than two treatments are of interest. Indirect comparisons are usually conducted using network meta-analysis, an extension of meta-analysis that includes more than two treatments.
What is an indirect treatment comparison (ITC)?
6 Introduction –Indirect Treatment Comparisons (ITC) •Systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are a standard method of analyzing information in the health-care setting. –ITCs are often necessary in order to combine this information and answer many
Are indirect treatment comparisons and network meta-analyses useful for Selecting treatments?
In the absence of randomized controlled trials involving a direct comparison of all treatments of interest, indirect treatment comparisons and network meta-analysis provide useful evidence for judiciously selecting the best treatment (s).
How do you compare two treatments with no data?
When little or no data directly comparing two treatments are available, investigators often rely on indirect comparisons from studies testing the treatments against a control or placebo. One approach to indirect comparison is to pool findings from the active treatment arms of the original controlled …
What is an indirect comparison?
Indirect comparison refers to a comparison of different healthcare interventions using data from separate studies, in contrast to a direct comparison within randomised controlled trials. Indirect comparison is often used because of a lack of, or insufficient, evidence from head-to-head comparative trials.
What is indirect treatment?
An indirect treatment comparison is a method of deriving a comparative estimate between two treatments (treatment A and treatment B) which are not directly compared in head to head trials (or other studies), but which have both been compared to another intervention (treatment C).
What is an example of an indirect comparison?
Example: For example, consider a comparison of two drugs, A and B. Although studies comparing A and B may be unavailable, studies may have compared A to placebo and B to placebo. This makes it possible to indirectly compare the effect of A and B.
What is treatment comparison?
Mixed treatment comparison (MTC): A statistical approach used to analyze a network of evidence with more than two interventions which are being compared indirectly, and at least one pair of interventions compared both directly and indirectly.
What does direct comparison mean?
— A study in which the treatments or diagnostic tests of interest are evaluated in the same study.
Is simile direct or indirect comparison?
Specifically, a simile compares two or more items using “like,” “as,” or another comparative preposition. Also known as an “indirect comparison,” the simile allows writers to explore the many facets of complex ideas. A simile compares two or more items using “like,” “as,” or another comparative preposition.
What is indirect comparison in measurement?
Indirect comparison is the process of comparing two objects that cannot be directly aligned, such as the length of a desk and the height of a doorway.
Is metaphor an indirect comparison?
A metaphor is a direct comparison between two things that does not use like or as: Her smile is sunshine. The word metaphor is more broad and can also refer to a variety of ways of comparing or connecting different things, including those that don't use words at all.
What is matching adjusted indirect comparison?
Matching-adjusted indirect comparisons (MAICs) are a form of population-adjusted ITC that attempt to reduce bias in treatment comparisons by matching patient-level data from the clinical trials of one treatment to aggregate data reported for comparator trials [17].
What is an example of a comparison group?
For example, nurses who exercise regularly may be generally more health conscious (e.g., less likely to smoke; more likely to eat a healthier diet; more likely to take vitamins, etc.).
Does a comparison group receive treatment?
What is the difference between a control group and an experimental group? An experimental group, also known as a treatment group, receives the treatment whose effect researchers wish to study, whereas a control group does not.
What are comparison groups used for?
In an experiment testing the effects of a treatment, a comparison group refers to a group of units (e.g., persons, classrooms) that receive either no TREATMENT or an alternative treatment. The purpose of a comparison group is to serve as a source of COUNTERFACTUAL causal inference.
Citation
Jansen JP, Fleurence R, Devine B, et al. Interpreting indirect treatment comparisons and network meta-analysis for health-care decision making: report of the ISPOR Task Force on Indirect Treatment Comparisons Good Research Practices: part 1. Value Health. 2011;14 (4):417-428.
Abstract
Evidence-based health-care decision making requires comparisons of all relevant competing interventions.
Abstract
The indirect comparison of two interventions can be valuable in many situations. However, the quality of an indirect comparison will depend on several factors including the chosen methodology and validity of underlying assumptions.
Introduction
Systematic reviews of randomised controlled trials are the highest quality evidence to support healthcare decisions. When the relative effectiveness of interventions is of interest, evidence from trials that compare the interventions directly (head-to-head trials) and evidence from indirect comparisons may be sought within a review.
Methods
Reviews that applied statistical methods to indirectly compare the clinical effectiveness of two interventions ( A and B) based on randomised controlled trials.
Results
Figure 1 displays the review selection process. The 43 included reviews were published in 35 English language journals between 1992 and 2007 ( Figure 2) [12] – [54].
Discussion
Guidelines for reporting conventional pair-wise meta-analyses and for producing high quality systematic reviews are already available [4], [55]. This review identifies a clear need to extend such guidelines to indirect comparisons, focussing on the assessment of the underlying assumptions.
Author Contributions
Wrote the paper: SD CTS. Planned a search strategy, developed quality assessment criteria, and designed eligibility, data extraction, and quality assessment forms: SD. Pre-piloted the forms, searched for reviews, assessed eligibility, extracted data, and assessed the quality of indirect comparisons: SD.
What is a mixed treatment comparison?
Mixed treatment comparisons (MTCs) use Bayesian statistical models to incorporate all available data for a drug, even data that are not relevant to the comparator drug. MTCs reduce uncertainty but have not yet been widely accepted by researchers, nor drug regulatory and reimbursement authorities.
Is there evidence for multiple drug options?
In most therapeutic areas, multiple drug options are increasingly becoming available, but there is often a lack of evidence from head- to-head clinical trials that allows for direct comparison of the efficacy (and/or safety) of one drug vs.another. The situation arises partly from drug registration in many worldwide markets being only reliant on ...
