Multiple outcomes at once

Build one workbook with every outcome and export it all in a single run

Follow the steps on this page to analyse mortality, recurrence and adverse events in a single run, and download each kind of plot with every outcome already inside one ZIP.

It works in these modules: binary outcomes, continuous outcomes, the three pre-calculated ones, single proportions and single means. Network and diagnostic accuracy do not have this mode.

1. Download the template

  1. Open the module you are going to use.
  2. In the Data step, go to the card on the right, More than one outcome.
  3. Click Download XLSX template, next to the file field.

You get a workbook with three sheets already filled in and in the right format. Start from that file, not from the template in the left card, which is for a single outcome and has a different structure.

2. Build your workbook

Open the template and follow these rules:

  1. Keep one sheet per outcome. Add or delete sheets until you have as many as you have outcomes.
  2. Rename each sheet with the outcome name. Write 30-day mortality, not Sheet1. That name goes into the plot titles and into the exported file names.
  3. Fill each sheet as if it were a separate analysis. Every study for that outcome, with every required column of the module.
  4. Use the same column names in every sheet, exactly as they appear in the template.
  5. Repeat a study in as many sheets as it belongs to. Sheets do not talk to each other: no study is linked to its counterpart in another sheet.
  6. Save as .xlsx.
Sheet name rules

Excel caps sheet names at 31 characters and rejects : \ / ? * [ ]. When generating files, MetaVidence replaces anything that is not a letter or a digit with _, so Progression-free survival reaches your computer as Progression_free_survival.

Going to use subgroups or meta-regression?

Include the column in every sheet where you want that result. If it is missing from one sheet, that outcome runs without the subgroup and the app records why, instead of stopping the whole run.

3. Upload the workbook

  1. Go back to the More than one outcome card.
  2. Click Browse under Import multi-outcome workbook (.xlsx).
  3. Pick your file.

Do not use the field in the left card. It reads only the first sheet and treats the file as a single outcome.

4. Check the Data check

The Data check card now shows one row per outcome, with the number of studies found in each.

Read it before moving on. If a sheet has a missing column or an invalid value, fix the workbook and upload again. That is faster than finding the error after running everything.

5. Set the parameters

Click Next: parameters. One thing changes on this screen in batch mode: the Outcome name field disappears, because the sheet name now names each outcome.

Choose the sm, the model and the rest as usual. One single set of parameters applies to every outcome. Subgroup and meta-regression are not set here: you pick those columns in step 3, inside the result card, exactly as in single-outcome mode.

One sm for all

If one outcome needs RR and another needs MD, do not put both in the same file. Split them into two workbooks and do two runs.

6. Run the analysis

Click Run analysis. The app processes each sheet, one at a time, and moves on to step 3.

7. Download the results

In batch mode each result card gains an extra button. For every plot you want:

  1. Click 1. Run analysis, inside the card.
  2. Wait for the button beside it to stop showing 2. Download locked.
  3. Click 2. Download.

The Subgroup analysis and Meta-regression cards also carry a column picker. Pick the column there, then click 1. Run analysis in that same card. Changing the column locks the download again, so click 1. Run analysis once more to rebuild the files for the new column.

Choose the format, the width and the height before downloading, in the fields of that card. They apply to every outcome in that ZIP.

You get a file named Forest_Batch.zip, and inside it one plot per outcome, with the sheet name in the file name. Repeat for the funnel, the leave-one-out and whatever else you need.

Prepare only what you will use

Each click on 1. Run analysis draws that plot for every outcome. With many outcomes that takes time, so prepare only the cards that go into the paper.