Abstract

The lack of consistent presentation of results in published studies on the association between a quantitative explanatory variable and a quantitative dependent variable has been a long-term issue in evaluating the reported findings. Studies are analyzed and reported in a variety of ways. The main purpose of this review is to illustrate the procedures in summarizing and synthesizing research results from multivariate models with a quantitative outcome variable. The review summarizes the application of the standardized regression coefficient as an effect size index in the context of meta-analysis and describe how it can be estimated and converted from data presented in original research articles. An example of synthesis is provided using research articles on the association between childhood body mass index and carotid intima-media thickness in adult life. Finally, the paper shares practical recommendations for meta-analysts wanting to use the standardized regression coefficient in pooling findings.