A METAANALYSIS OF CLINICAL-TRIALS INVOLVING DIFFERENT CLASSIFICATIONSOF RESPONSE INTO ORDERED CATEGORIES

Statistical methods are available for performing a meta-analysis when the response variable of interest is the same in each study. Problems arise when studies exploring a common therapeutic question use differe nt patient response types. This article presents statistical methods f or combining studies which involve different classifications of respon se into ordered categories, The assumptions required for the stratifie d proportional odds model, on which the analysis is based, are discuss ed. The approach is illustrated using results from a series of studies investigating the prevention of gastrointestinal damage induced by no n-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.