Table 3.

Number of consistent networks that become inconsistent under the loop-specific and design-by-treatment interaction approach when the effect measure is the odds ratio. The common within-network heterogeneity (${\widehat{\tau }}_{\mathit{ntw}}^2$) is estimated with the restricted maximum likelihood method. Under the loop-specific approach the networks that involve at least 5% inconsistent loops out of their total loops are considered as inconsistent. We define as ‘C’ the consistent networks and as ‘I’ the inconsistent networks.

	Loop-specific approach - ${\widehat{\tau }}_{\mathit{ntw}}^2$			Percentage out of the total 40 networks
Design-by-treatment interaction approach- ${\widehat{\tau }}_{\mathit{ntw}}^2$		C	I
	C	30	4	85%
	I	2	4	15%
	Percentage out of the total 40 networks	80%	20%