Evaluating statistics in clinical trials: making the unintelligible intelligible.
Medical practitioners should be familiar with the basic principles of statistical testing and analysis, as the critical evaluation of clinical trials is an essential component to the effective practise of evidence-based medicine. Practitioners also need to be able to identify unethical trial design. The aim of this review is to facilitate an understanding of inferential methodology by introducing some of the basic principles involved in the critical analysis of trial design and interpretation.
Dermatology Group, School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. s.gilmore1@uq.edu.au
Stephen J
SJ
Gilmore
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012107:Research Design; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric