Table 1 Comparison of Meta-Analysis Software
From: Meta-Analyst: software for meta-analysis of binary, continuous and diagnostic data
Stata/WinBUGS | R/OpenBUGS | MIX | CMA | RevMan | Meta-Analyst | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Operating system | Windows, Mac, Linux | Windows, Mac, Linux | Windows | Windows | Windows, Mac, Linux | Windows |
Version | 10 | 2.6 | 1.7 | 2 | 5.0.18 | Beta 1.0 |
Price | $785* | FREE | FREE | $1,295 | FREE | FREE |
Import data | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Meta-analysis interface/routines | Macros | Macros | Dedicated | Dedicated | Dedicated | Dedicated |
Meta-regression | ✓ | ✓ | ∅ | ✓ | ∅ | ✓ |
Single group | ✓ | ✓ | ✓†| ✓ | ✓†| ✓ |
Fixed effects | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Random effects | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Multilevel models | ✓ | ✓ | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | ✓ |
Random effects meta-regression | ✓ | ✓ | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | ✓ |
Bayesian models | ✓ | ✓ | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | ✓ |
Cumulative meta-analysis | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ∅ | ✓ |
Subgroup analysis | ✓ | ✓ | ∅ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Small study effects (Publication bias tests)** | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ∅ | ∅ |
Binary data | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Continuous data | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Diagnostic test data | ✓ | ✓ | ∅ | ∅ | ✓ | ✓ |
Multivariate | ✓ | ✓ | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | ✓ |
Documentation of methods | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Forest plot | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Funnel plot | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
SROC | ✓ | ✓ | ∅ | ∅ | ✓ | ✓ |
HSROC - bivariate meta-analysis | ✓ | ✓ | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | ✓ |
Point and click plot editing | ✓ | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | ✓ |
Programming capabilities | ✓ | ✓ | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | ✓ |
Leave one out sensitivity | ✓ | ✓ | ∅ | ✓ | ∅ | ✓ |
Results format | RTF | RTF | MS Excel | RTF, PowerPoint | RevMan | PDF, RTF, image files |