when we conducted a meta-analysis, it is often an annoying thing to deal with the data of discrete exposure and multiple outcomes. Conventional "high VS low" approach abandoned the information of middle category, and led to the loss of statistical power. In this paper, we introduced a method and software to combine the groups of discrete exposure and multiple outcomes in the meta-analysis of epidemiological studies. Firstly, we introduced the transforming and combination theory and method, and then, we conducted the combination using EXCEL macro software. The result was consistent with the results of the original data in the combination of discrete exposure and multiple outcome data. Therefore, in the case of the original research data cannot be acquired, EXCEL macro software can be a good solution.
In evidence-based practice and decision, dose-response meta-analysis has been concerned by many scholars. It can provide unique dose-response relationship between exposure and disease, with a high grade of evidence among observational-study based meta-analysis. Thus, it is important to clearly understand this type of meta-analysis on software implementations. Currently, there are different software for dose-response meta-analysis with various characteristics. In this paper, we will focus on how to conduct dose-response meta-analysis by Stata, R and SAS software, which including a brief introduction, the process of calculation, the graph drawing, the generalization, and some examples of the processes.