Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Using N-of-1 Trials

Abstract

This chapter discusses issues and approaches related to systematic review and meta-analysis of N-of-1 trials. Some basic guidelines and methods are described in this chapter. Some important steps in a systematic review of these types of trials are discussed in detail. This is followed by a detailed description of meta-analytic methods, spanning both frequentist and Bayesian techniques. A previously undertaken meta-analysis of a comparison of treatments for fibromyalgia syndrome is discussed with some sample size considerations. This is further elaborated on through a discussion on the statistical power of studies through a comparison of treatments for chronic pain. The chapter concludes with some final thoughts about the aggregation of evidence from individual N-of-1 trials. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)