Assessment of statistical methods applied in the research papers of Chinese Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
10.3760/cma.j.issn.2095-2848.2014.05.015
- VernacularTitle:《中华核医学与分子影像杂志》论著中统计学方法应用状况与分析
- Author:
Fang LIN
;
Yaofeng HAN
;
Ya FANG
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Statistics;
Periodicals;
Nuclear medicine;
China
- From:
Chinese Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
2014;34(5):401-404
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective To assess the correctness of statistical methods applied in the research papers of Chinese Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (CJNMMI) and to provide suggestions for further improving.Methods Papers were obtained from CJNMMI by multi-stage sampling method between 2007 and 2011 according to the number of journals and articles each year.The statistical methods were reviewed in the aspects of statistical design,description,inference and expression.Results A total of 116 papers were collected.For the statistical design,99.1％ (115/116) used the control group and all were applied properly.The methods of randomization and blinding were used in 16.4％ (19/116) and 8.6％ (10/116) of papers,respectively,with 6 and 3 papers applied incorrectly.Statistical description was used in all papers with an accurate rate over 90.0％.The index for statistical description mainly included relative number,mean and standard deviation.The frequency for the usage of statistical tables was 45.7％ (53/116) and all were applied correctly.In 71.6％ (83/116) of papers,statistical inference methods were used,including t test,x2 test and analysis of variance.The overall incorrect rate was 29.7％ (27/91),with 27.8％ (5/18),25.5％ (12/47) and 24.0％ (6/25) for analysis of variance,t test and x2 test,respectively.The frequency for the usage of advanced statistical inference methods was 20.5％ (17/83) and all were applied correctly.For the statistical expression,98.0％ of papers provided the sample size and statistics.The incorrect rate of statistical expression was 60.3％ (70/116) and majority of the mistakes was the lack of basis for determining the sample size.Conclusions The overall correctness of statistical methods applied in the papers of CJNMMI was good,especially in statistical design,statistical description and advanced statistical inference methods.However,quality application skills need to be improved in areas such as methods of randomization,blinding,basic statistical inference and statistical expression.
