The Use and Misuse of Statistical Methods in Cytopathology Studies: Review of 6 Journals

Laboratory Medicine
Burak BaharYasemin Akdas

Abstract

The misuse of statistical methods in diagnostic accuracy studies has been criticized in many publications. To assess the use and misuse of statistical methods in medical journal articles. We reviewed 141 original articles from 6 cytopathology journals published in 2014. In total, 16 articles used no descriptive statistics and 66 articles used no inferential statistics. Also, 82 articles did not report using any tests for diagnostic accuracy. The most commonly adopted statistical measure for diagnostic accuracy was sensitivity, followed by specificity. The most common inferential statistical methods were χ2 testing, the Fisher exact test, and the Cohen kappa coefficient, respectively. Only 78 articles were free of statistical errors. "No statistics were used although statistical methods were required" was the most common type of error, followed by "failure to select proper statistical methods." Our assessment of use of statistical methods in this subsection of pathology demonstrated a need for improvement.

References

Dec 31, 2002·JAMA : the Journal of the American Medical Association·Drummond Rennie
Dec 4, 2004·The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology·James R Murphy
Aug 3, 2005·PLoS Medicine·John P A Ioannidis
Feb 28, 2006·Journal of the American College of Surgeons·Jibby E Kurichi, Seema S Sonnad
Apr 11, 2007·The Journal of Cell Biology·Geoff CummingDavid L Vaux
Jun 17, 2010·The Korean Journal of Pain·Kyoung Hoon YimSoo Young Park
Nov 30, 2011·TheScientificWorldJournal·Shunquan WuJia He
May 10, 2012·Clinical Epidemiology·Daniel J NivenKevin B Laupland
Sep 3, 2013·Journal of Graduate Medical Education·Gail M Sullivan, Richard Feinn
Feb 14, 2014·Nature·Regina Nuzzo
Oct 8, 2015·Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology·Andreas IvarssonMagnus Lindwall

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Citations

May 18, 2019·Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine·Kenneth P H Pritzker, Heikki J Nieminen
Sep 6, 2020·Journal of Nursing Scholarship : an Official Publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing·Yanni WuWeilian Cong
Apr 26, 2019·Laboratory Investigation; a Journal of Technical Methods and Pathology·Benjamin L MazerDavid L Rimm
Nov 14, 2019·Burns and Trauma·Guangping LiangKaifa Wang
Apr 21, 2021·Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research : a Publication of Dietitians of Canada = Revue Canadienne De La Pratique Et De La Recherche En Diététique : Une Publication Des Diététistes Du Canada·Holly SchaafsmaJamie A Seabrook
Aug 5, 2021·Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine : Peer-reviewed, Official Publication of Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine·Priya Ranganathan
Sep 16, 2021·Cytopathology : Official Journal of the British Society for Clinical Cytology·Colleen M Vrbin

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