Journal of health informatics and statistics

The Korean Society of Health Informatics and Statistics (한국보건정보통계학회)
권호 표지

Analysis on the Statistical Methods and Errors in Articles of Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy

한국임상약학회지에 게재된 논문의 통계 분석기법에 대한 고찰

  • Yang, Catherine Seonghee (Department of Bioinformatics, Korea National Open University Graduate School) ;
  • Lee, Taerim (Department of Bioinformatics, Korea National Open University Graduate School) ;
  • Lee, Sukhyang (College of Pharmacy, Ajou University) ;
  • Rhew, Ki Yon (College of Pharmacy, Dongduk Women's University)
  • 양성희 (한국방송통신대학교 대학원 바이오정보학과) ;
  • 이태림 (한국방송통신대학교 대학원 바이오정보학과) ;
  • 이숙향 (아주대학교 약학대학) ;
  • 유기연 (동덕여자대학교 약학대학)
  • Published : 2012.06.30
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Abstract

Objectives: Statistical analysis is fundamental to demonstrate internal validity of study results. The purpose of this study is to review statistical methods and errors in articles published in the Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy (KJCP). Methods: We reviewed appropriateness and validity of statistical methods in articles published in the KJCP from 2006 through 2010 using checklist for assessing the methodological and statistical validity. Frequency of applied inferential statistical methods and errors were analyzed using $SPSS^{(R)}$ version 12.0. Results: Total 85 original articles were reviewed. Among them, 19 articles used the descriptive statistics only, and 66 articles used both descriptive and inferential statistics. Frequently used methods were ANOVA (23.8%), t-test (19.8%), and ${\chi}^2$ test (12.9%). Errors of omission were found 45 times in 36 articles and errors of commission were found 41 times in 30 articles. Only 39.4% of papers were free from statistical errors. Conclusions: We could found various types of statistical errors in the articles published in the KJCP.Clinical researchers need to be more cautious in applying statistical methods of study to ensure internal validity of results.

Keywords

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