Hi colleagues,
Would be very grateful for some advice for a meta-analysis I am currently completing (into brain serotonin receptor imaging by PET/SPECT). 2 studies from the same group analyse data derived from the same subjects; study A has considerably fewer controls and patients than study B (whereby study B presumably uses the "full" data set). Both studies present receptor binding data for a variety of cortical subregions - half of the time the 2 studies give data for the same subregions, the other half of the time they give data for different subregions.
Is it appropriate to synthesise the data from both studies? Or should I include data from the larger (and methodologically stronger) study B only? Or should I include both studies in meta-analysis in the instances that they assess different subregions, and include only study B data for the regions where both studies present data? Any other ideas?
Thanks in advance!