This book introduces the latest meta-analytical methods and discusses their applications in the field of psychiatry. A comprehensive list of methods used in meta-analysis has been described in simple language and demonstrated with real-time examples. This informative volume explains the importance of meta-analysis and describes how it differs from narrative and systematic reviews. It also relates the historical development of meta-analysis and explains methods used for locating and selecting the required studies in a given domain. Suitable software is examined in detail as well.

Mallikarjun B. Hanji, PhD, a Chief Technical Officer at the Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute, Bangalore, India, and has over 25 years of research, teaching, and extension experience. He has published several scientific papers, including an introductory paper on meta-analysis for mental health care research followed by pattern of prevalence of mental retardation and affective disorders in India. His main contribution is the identification of suitable methods for estimation of pattern and prevalence for schizophrenia and epilepsy in India. He received his MSc in agricultural statistics from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore; an MBA from Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi; and a PhD in biostatistics (topic: meta-analytical approach to estimate pattern of prevalence of schizophrenia and epilepsy in India) from the Department of Biostatistics, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, India.