AUTHORS ' CONCLUSIONS Addition of ox and rolone to the GH therapy led to a modest increase in the final adult height of girls aged up to 18 years with TS .
BACKGROUND The final adult height of untreated girls aged up to 18 years with Turner syndrome ( TS ) is approximately 20 cm shorter compared with healthy females .
Treatment with growth hormone ( GH ) increases the adult height of people with TS .
The effects of adding the and rogen , ox and rolone , in addition to GH are unclear .
Therefore , we conducted this systematic review to investigate the benefits and harms of ox and rolone as an adjuvant therapy for people with TS treated with GH .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of ox and rolone on growth hormone-treated girls aged up to 18 years with Turner syndrome .
Methods for evidence synthesis in the case of very few studies
In systematic review s , meta‐analyses are routinely applied to summarize the results of the relevant studies for a specific research question . If one can assume that in all studies the same true effect is estimated , the application of a meta‐ analysis with common effect ( commonly referred to as fixed‐effect meta‐ analysis ) is adequate . If between‐ study heterogeneity is expected to be present , the method of choice is a meta‐ analysis with r and om effects . The widely used DerSimonian and Laird method for meta‐analyses with r and om effects has been criticized due to its unfavorable statistical properties , especially in the case of very few studies . A working group of the Cochrane Collaboration recommended the use of the Knapp‐Hartung method for meta‐analyses with r and om effects . However , as heterogeneity can not be reliably estimated if only very few studies are available , the Knapp‐Hartung method , while correctly accounting for the corresponding uncertainty , has very low power . Our aim is to summarize possible methods to perform meaningful evidence syntheses in the situation with only very few ( ie , 2‐4 ) studies . Some general recommendations are provided on which method should be used when . Our recommendations are based on the existing literature on methods for meta‐ analysis with very few studies and consensus of the authors . The recommendations are illustrated by 2 examples coming from dossier assessment s of the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care
AUTHORS ' CONCLUSIONS Addition of ox and rolone to the GH therapy led to a modest increase in the final adult height of girls aged up to 18 years with TS .
BACKGROUND The final adult height of untreated girls aged up to 18 years with Turner syndrome ( TS ) is approximately 20 cm shorter compared with healthy females .
Treatment with growth hormone ( GH ) increases the adult height of people with TS .
The effects of adding the and rogen , ox and rolone , in addition to GH are unclear .
Therefore , we conducted this systematic review to investigate the benefits and harms of ox and rolone as an adjuvant therapy for people with TS treated with GH .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of ox and rolone on growth hormone-treated girls aged up to 18 years with Turner syndrome .