meta analysis without control group

[eojin lee]

I want to meta analysis RCTs showing weight change (loss) after bariatric surgery (3 months after surgery)

The effect size will be weight loss(kg) or total weight loss(%)

Those RCTs include weight change of control group (no surgery) but I don't need these informations.


What kind of command in stata can I use to meta analysis without control group?

[Leonardo Guizzetti]

Why might you want to ignore the control arm?

[eojin lee]

Because what I want to see is the amount of weight loss (kg or %) after surgery

I don't care about no-surgery group or other intervention group

[Tiago Pereira]

You can perform meta-analysis of within-group changes (mean changes from baseline) in Stata. You don't need a control group. You need two ingredientes: mean change from baseline and the standard error of the mean change from baseline. You then can use -metan- or -meta-