Statistical Use in Clinical Studies: Is There Evidence of a Methodological Shift?

ABSTRACT:

Background

Several studies indicate that the statistical education model and level in medical training fails to meet the demands of clinicians, especially when they want to understand published clinical research. We investigated how study designs and statistical methods in clinical studies have changed in the last twenty years, and we identified the current trends in study designs and statistical methods in clinical studies.

Methods

We reviewed 838 eligible clinical study articles that were published in 1990, 2000, and 2010 in four journals New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Journal of the American Medical Association and Nature Medicine. The study types, study designs, sample designs, data quality controls, statistical methods and statistical software were examined.

SUBMITTER: Yi D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4598157 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature