teleoanalysis

teleoanalysis

The process of combining different classes of data and taking evidence from different kinds of sources so as to increase knowledge of the quantitative relationship between a causal factor and the risk of a particular disease. In studies, for instance, of how maternal folic acid intake affects the incidence of neural tube defects, teleoanalysis would combine data on the effect of increased folate intake on serum folate concentration with data on the effect of the latter on the incidence of neural tube defects. Teleoanalysis should be distinguished from meta-analysis in which evidence is combined from a number of studies of the same kind. From the Greek teleio meaning ‘perfect’.