netmeta: R Package for Frequentist Network Meta-Analysis

An R package providing a set of functions for performing frequentist network meta-analysis, as described by Balduzzi et al. (2023). The software implements methods from multiple key publications, including Rücker (2012) and Schwarzer et al. (2015), for synthesizing evidence across multiple treatments. It is authored by Gerta Rücker.

Use Cases

• Ranking multiple medical treatments based on efficacy using P-scores or SUCRA values.
• Checking consistency between direct and indirect evidence in a treatment network.
• Visualizing treatment networks and evidence flow using automated network graphs.
• Performing network meta-analysis on binary outcome data using Mantel-Haenszel methods.
• Assessing small-study effects in a network via comparison-adjusted funnel plots.

Strengths

• Implements a wide range of established frequentist NMA methods from over a dozen cited publications.
• Includes specialized functions for additive NMA of treatment combinations and penalized logistic regression.
• Provides multiple visualization and diagnostic tools like net heat plots, league tables, and rankograms.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Gerta Rücker

Collection Method

Software package implementing statistical methods.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Geography

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