Forest Plot for Meta-Analysis Results

Generates a forest plot from a meta-analysis result object, optionally grouped by a specified subgrouping variable.

forest_plot(
  mars_object,
  subgroups = NULL,
  z_dist = TRUE,
  xlab = "Effect Size",
  main = "Forest Plot",
  study_header = "Study",
  subgroup_header = "Group",
  es_header = "ES (SE)",
  note = NULL,
  ci_level = 0.95,
  marker_scale = 2,
  font_cex = 0.8
)

Arguments

mars_object

A fitted mars object.

subgroups

Optional. Name of the column in mars_object$data to use as subgroup variable.

z_dist

Logical. Whether to use the normal distribution for confidence intervals. If FALSE, uses the t-distribution.

xlab

Label for the x-axis. Defaults to "Effect Size".

main

Title of the forest plot. Defaults to "Forest Plot".

study_header

Label for the column showing study names. Defaults to "Study".

subgroup_header

Label for the subgroup column (if used). Defaults to "Group".

es_header

Label for the effect size column. Defaults to "ES (SE)".

note

Optional. Text or named list providing a summary note (e.g., effect, SE, tau², I²).

ci_level

Confidence level for the interval bounds. Defaults to 0.95.

marker_scale

Numeric multiplier for marker size. Defaults to 2.

font_cex

Numeric scaling for text labels. Defaults to 0.8.

Value

A base R forest plot is rendered to the current graphics device.

Details

The function sorts studies by effect size and draws each study as a point with a confidence interval. If subgroups is provided, distinct plot symbols are used for each group and a legend is added. Optionally, a summary note can be added below the plot using the note argument.

Examples

if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
forest_plot(mars_object,
            subgroups = "region",
            note = list(effect = 0.42, se = 0.05, tau2 = 0.02, I2 = 0.23))
} # }