[R-meta] common reference for categorical variable in MA

[Pier-Alexandre Tardif]

Hello,

We are conducting a meta-analysis to assess the potential relationship between a dichotomous outcome (access to appropriate care) and a variety of exposures based on the PROGRESS-PLUS list. For instance, this list include the variable �race�, which in most studies is a categorical variable with choices such as African-American, Caucasian, Asian, etc. However, in some studies the reference is set as 'caucasian' while in other it is 'african-american'. Say we have 2 studies with caucasian as the reference and 2 as african-american. By default we could perform 2 meta-analyses of 2 studies each. But in order to have more power and be more comprehensive, we'd like to include all 4 by obtaining a common reference. We do not expect to obtain original data to perform an individual-patient data MA, so let's assume that all we'll have access to are the Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals, and hopefully the proportion of outcome for every category of the exposure variable. How could we achieve this using any of the R package?

Thanks,

Pier-Alex

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