title: Cognition of and Demand for Education and Teaching in Medical Statistics in China: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although a substantial number of studies focus on the teaching and application of medical statistics in China, few studies comprehensively evaluate the recognition of and demand for medical statistics. In addition, the results of these various studies differ and are insufficiently comprehensive and systematic.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This investigation aimed to evaluate the general cognition of and demand for medical statistics by undergraduates, graduates, and medical staff in China.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a comprehensive database search related to the cognition of and demand for medical statistics from January 2007 to July 2014 and conducted a meta-analysis of non-controlled studies with sub-group analysis for undergraduates, graduates, and medical staff.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There are substantial differences with respect to the cognition of theory in medical statistics among undergraduates (73.5%), graduates (60.7%), and medical staff (39.6%). The demand for theory in medical statistics is high among graduates (94.6%), undergraduates (86.1%), and medical staff (88.3%). Regarding specific statistical methods, the cognition of basic statistical methods is higher than of advanced statistical methods. The demand for certain advanced statistical methods, including (but not limited to) multiple analysis of variance (ANOVA), multiple linear regression, and logistic regression, is higher than that for basic statistical methods. The use rates of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software and statistical analysis software (SAS) are only 55% and 15%, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The overall statistical competence of undergraduates, graduates, and medical staff is insufficient, and their ability to practically apply their statistical knowledge is limited, which constitutes an unsatisfactory state of affairs for medical statistics education. Because the demand for skills in this area is increasing, the need to reform medical statistics education in China has become urgent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
authors.forename: Yazhou
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
authors.forename: Gaoming
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
authors.forename: Dali
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
authors.forename: Xiaojiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
authors.forename: Yanqi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yi
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D003071:Cognition; D003710:Demography; D004501:Education, Medical; D006801:Humans; D012984:Software; D013223:Statistics as Topic / Q000193:education*