ForestPMPlot: A Flexible Tool for Visualizing Heterogeneity Between Studies in Meta-analysis. Issue 7 (1st July 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kang, Eun Yong; Park, Yurang; Li, Xiao; Segrè, Ayellet V; Han, Buhm; Eskin, Eleazar
• Is Part Of: G3. Volume 6:Issue 7(2016)
• Page Start: 1793
• Page End: 1798
• Publication Date: 2016-07-01
• Subjects: GWAS -- genetic association studies -- heterogeneity -- meta-analysis; Genetics -- Research -- Periodicals; Genomics -- Periodicals; Genetics; Genomics; Genes; Genetics -- Research; Genomics; Electronic journals; Periodical; Periodicals; Fulltext; Internet Resources; Periodicals; 572.8
• DOI: 10.1534/g3.116.029439
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2160-1836

Abstract

Abstract: Meta-analysis has become a popular tool for genetic association studies to combine different genetic studies. A key challenge in meta-analysis is heterogeneity, or the differences in effect sizes between studies. Heterogeneity complicates the interpretation of meta-analyses. In this paper, we describe ForestPMPlot, a flexible visualization tool for analyzing studies included in a meta-analysis. The main feature of the tool is visualizing the differences in the effect sizes of the studies to understand why the studies exhibit heterogeneity for a particular phenotype and locus pair under different conditions. We show the application of this tool to interpret a meta-analysis of 17 mouse studies, and to interpret a multi-tissue eQTL study.