Extracting summary statistics to perform meta-analyses of the published literature for survival endpoints

TLDR

Meta‑analyses aim to comprehensively summarize related studies, yet for survival data the log hazard ratio and its variance—often omitted—are the most appropriate statistics. This paper aims to present methods for extracting log hazard ratios and variances from survival studies. The authors describe several extraction techniques applicable across diverse study scenarios. Using these methods improves the efficiency and reliability of survival‑endpoint meta‑analyses. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract

Meta-analyses aim to provide a full and comprehensive summary of related studies which have addressed a similar question. When the studies involve time to event (survival-type) data the most appropriate statistics to use are the log hazard ratio and its variance. However, these are not always explicitly presented for each study. In this paper a number of methods of extracting estimates of these statistics in a variety of situations are presented. Use of these methods should improve the efficiency and reliability of meta-analyses of the published literature with survival-type endpoints. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.