National Institute for Health and Care Excellence NICEE) recommends to present data from a MTC (includes adjusted indirect comparisons) if no direct evidence (head-to-head trials) is available.
1 Direct evidence from head to head trials is often lacking.
Evidence from head to head comparison trials was not systematically searched for or not included in nine cases (see bmj.com).
Evidence from head to head comparison trials was not systematically searched for or not included in nine cases.
We extracted data on clinical indications, interventions compared, comprehensiveness of the literature search for trials used in indirect comparison, methods for indirect comparison, and whether direct evidence from head to head comparison trials was also available.
Direct evidence from head to head comparison trials was available in 40 reviews (see bmj.com), including 15 that used simple adjusted methods, 16 that used complex methods, and six that used informal methods.
The objective of this study was to determine the effect of industry bias in a systematically reviewed body of evidence of head-to-head trials.
Often we lack evidence from head-to-head trials on active treatments.
Nevertheless, evidence from head-to-head trials consistently raises concerns about an increased risk of ocular and systemic adverse events with bevacizumab.
In the absence of evidence from head-to-head trials, indirect and mixed treatment comparisons can be used for drug comparisons.
