Indirect comparisons of treatment effects: Network meta-analyses

Many therapeutic options are now available for patients with multiple sclerosis. While the efficacy of each drug has been assessed against placebo or, more recently, against interferon, no direct comparisons of these new therapies have been conducted in randomized clinical trials. Therefore, indirect treatment comparisons are needed to inform clinical decisions. In this brief report, some basic concepts about network meta-analyses that are the formal methods used to run multiple indirect treatment comparisons are reviewed when applied in the context of multiple sclerosis studies.