Assessing statistical applications in publications on Alzheimer's disease.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate statistical applications in publications on Alzheimer's disease (AD).


METHODS
Three instruments/checklists were developed: Assessment of Statistical Reporting (ASR; 44 items), Survey of Statistical Designs (SSD; 10 items), and Survey of Statistical Methods (SSM; 7 items). After a pilot testing on 5 AD publications, the instruments/checklists were revised and tested for reliability with a sample of 30 AD articles and for validity with another sample of 10 AD articles from MEDLINE.


RESULTS
Item-specific test-retest and interrater reliability for ASR ranged from 0.29 to 1.0 with the associated standard errors (SEs) ranging from 0.01 to 0.31. The test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.88-0.97) and the interrater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.69-0.92) for the overall score of ASR were high. The correlational validity of the ASR with a published checklist was also high (r = 0.74, SE = 0.24). The item-specific test-retest reliability in SSD and SSM ranged from 0.58 to 1.00 with the associated SEs ranging from 0.01 to 0.32. The item-specific interrater reliability in SSD and SSM ranged from 0.17 to 1.00 with the associated SEs ranging from 0.01 to 0.22.


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggested that it was feasible to assess statistical applications in AD publications.
Xiong
Chengjie
C
Division of Biostatistics, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA. chengjie@wubios.wustl.edu
Tang
Yuxiao
Y
van Belle
Gerald
G
Miller
J Philip
JP
Launer
Lenore J
LJ
Bergmann
Kelly R
KR
Morris
John C
JC
D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D006801:Humans; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011642:Publications / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards