Pooling Comparison — instructions
StatMedAnalysis | Revised 6 November 2026

Open the matching CSV in a spreadsheet or text editor. Keep an untouched copy.
The first data row is a clearly labeled hypothetical example, not study data.
Delete it before entering working records. Add rows without changing headers.
Use public, hypothetical or aggregate information only; no patient identifiers.

Use one row per study and eligible effect. Compare each field across studies; record multiple reports of one study and overlapping cohorts before choosing a synthesis.

Field guide
- study reference: Use an unambiguous study/report citation or identifier; mark hypothetical examples.
- population: Describe key eligibility and setting features relevant to comparability.
- design: State randomised, cohort, case-control or other design and key sampling features.
- comparison: Name the intervention/exposure and comparator with direction.
- outcome definition: Specify exactly what counts as the outcome and how it was measured.
- timepoint: State the visit or assessment window, including permitted timing deviations.
- effect measure: Name the scale, such as risk ratio, odds ratio or mean difference.
- uncertainty: Record interval type/level or standard error and the reported calculation method.
- participant overlap: Record shared cohorts or suspected duplicate participants and supporting evidence.
- compatibility notes: Explain material differences and the decision to combine, separate or investigate.

Decision rule
Resolve incompatible outcomes, time points or duplicate participants before pooling; retain a narrative synthesis when quantitative pooling is unjustified.

Write UNKNOWN, NOT REPORTED or NOT APPLICABLE with a reason in text fields.
Leave unresolved numeric fields empty and explain them in separate project notes;
never encode unknown values as zero. Store the source record and reviewer/date
in your project record. This planning aid is not a validated instrument.

Official guidance
https://www.cochrane.org/authors/handbooks-and-manuals/handbook/current/chapter-10