Outcome properties

When you have created an outcome, you can define the details of the analysis by modifying the properties of the outcome.

Tip: You can easily change some of the properties for an outcome directly by using the toolbar buttons at the top right corner of the content pane to toggle between the available Effect Measure and Analysis Model options.

To modify an outcome

  1. Right-click the outcome in the outline and choose Properties.

  2. Use the General tab to modify the Name, Data Type and Group labels.
    Note that changing the data type will mean that any data already entered will be lost.

  3. Use the Analysis Method tab to set the Statistical Method, Analysis Model and Effect Measure options.

  4. Use the Analysis Details tab to specify options for Totals, confidence intervals, and some advanced options.

  5. Use the Graph tab to specify options for the graph appearance.

  6. Click OK when finished.  

Note: Outcomes of the type Other Data have a separate set of properties. These only allow you to specify the Name, and the number of rows and columns in the data table.

General options

Use the outcome Name to describe the outcome.

You can choose between the following Data types:

The Group Labels (1 and 2) are used as headings in the data tables, and are published on those analyses graphs that are included as figures. The default labels are 'Experimental' and 'Control'. You can edit the labels for an individual outcome on the outcome properties, but you can also change the labels used in all outcomes for a comparison, see Comparison properties.

Analysis Method options

The Statistical Method options available depend on the data type, and in turn determine what analysis model and effect measure options are available.

Analysis Details options

The options for Totals determine whether the analysis will show totals for the entire outcome, for sub-categories only, or not show any totals.

Study confidence interval and Total confidence interval will be used as the default values when the review is published in The Cochrane Library. If you want to specify the default confidence intervals to be applied to any new outcome in RevMan use Settings: Statistical.

Advanced options:

Graph options

Left Graph Label, Right Graph Label are used beneath the analysis graph. The defaults are 'Favours [experimental]', and 'Favours [control]'. These must be modified to accurately reflect the intervention and control. You can edit the labels for an individual outcome on the outcome properties, but you can also change the labels used in all outcomes for a comparison, see Comparison properties.

Tip: Remember to reverse the labels if the outcome is positive.   

You can use the Scale option to set the graph scale to any numerical value. You can also modify the scale by using the slider beneath the graph, see Analysis graphs.

You can choose the order in which the studies appear by using the Sort by option. If you choose User Defined order, you can use the Move up and Move Down buttons on the outline toolbar to reorder the studies.