An example of a Forest plot. The names of the individual studies are on the left, the individual studies results are seen in the green boxes, and the overall combined result is seen in the orange box. The purple box shows the weighting given to each study, which is based on the number of participants (larger studies given more weight). The blue box displays the statistics for the meta-analysis, including whether the overall result is statistically significant (test for overall effect) and 2 measures of heterogeneity (χ² and I² tests). On the far right is the graphical representation of the results, known as the Forest plot. The studies are displayed horizontally, whereas the horizontal axis represents the magnitude of the difference between the intervention and control group. Each study is represented by a blue box and a black horizontal line. The blue box represents the result of the study, with the larger the box indicating the greater the weight of the study to the overall result. The black horizontal line represents the 95% confidence intervals for that study. If both the box and the horizontal line lie to the left of the vertical line, then that study shows that the intervention is statistically significantly better than the control, whereas, if the box and horizontal line all lie to the right of the vertical line, then the control is statistically significantly better. If the box or horizontal line cross the vertical line, then the individual study is not statistically significant. The overall result is represented by a diamond, with the size of the diamond being determined by the 95% confidence intervals for the overall combined result. If the diamond does not touch the vertical line, then the overall result is statistically significant, to the left the intervention is better than the control group and to the right indicates that the control group is better. If the diamond touches the line, then there is no statistical difference between the 2 groups.