Background: Network meta-analysis (NMA) provides a summary of the best evidence already available in the literature and can be extremely useful for different types of stakeholders such as consumers and clinicians. Therefore, it is important that this method is fully understood and properly recognized, especially in multiple sclerosis (MS).
Objectives: To investigate: 1) to what extent consumers and clinicians are aware of NMAs; 2) how they understand and interpret the outputs of NMAs; and 3) how the way the results of NMAs are summarized and presented could be enhanced.
Methods: The assessment was carried out through a survey. We focused on a specific clinical condition, MS, and the sample of the two types of stakeholders were patients with MS and neurologists. A web-based questionnaire was developed for each group. The questionnaires included questions that intend to: explore the general knowledge and understanding of the risks and benefits of health interventions from randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews and meta-analysis, and NMA; investigate the understanding, usefulness and how to enhance graphical representations of results from a NMA on MS. Text and graphs examples were shown in the questionnaires.
Results: The results will be available and presented at the Cochrane Colloquium as the survey will be launched in April 2015.
Conclusions: We expect to evaluate and improve the way the results are presented and understood by patients who need to be well informed and receive the best available therapy, and clinicians who need to decide which treatment to use for a specific disease.