Although well developed to assess efficacy questions, meta‐analyses and, more generally, systematic reviews, have received less attention in application to safety‐related questions. As a result, many open questions remain on how best to apply meta‐analyses in the safety setting. This appraisal attempts to: (i) summarize the current guidelines for assessing individual studies, systematic reviews, and network meta‐analyses; (ii) describe several publications on safety meta‐analytic approaches; and (iii) present some of the questions and issues that arise with safety data. A number of gaps in the current quality guidelines are identified along with issues to consider when performing a safety meta‐analysis. While some work is ongoing to provide guidance to improve the quality of safety meta‐analyses, this review emphasizes the critical need for better reporting and increased transparency regarding safety data in the systematic review guidelines. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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对荟萃分析指南的评估：它们与安全结果如何相关？

尽管已经发展成熟，可以评估功效问题，但荟萃分析和更广泛的系统评价却很少被应用到与安全性相关的问题上。结果，在安全设置中如何最好地应用荟萃分析仍存在许多悬而未决的问题。该评估试图：（i）总结当前评估个别研究，系统评价和网络荟萃分析的指南；（ii）描述有关安全性荟萃分析方法的几本出版物；（iii）提出一些与安全数据有关的问题。确定了当前质量指南中的许多空白以及执行安全元分析时要考虑的问题。尽管正在进行一些工作以提供指导以提高安全性荟萃分析的质量，这次审查强调了系统审查指南中对安全数据进行更好的报告和提高透明度的迫切需求。版权所有©2016 John Wiley＆Sons，Ltd.