Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: The problem of inadequate statistical reporting is long standing and widespread in the biomedical literature, including in cardiovascular physiology. Although guidelines for reporting statistics have been available in clinical medicine for some time, there are currently no guidelines specific to cardiovascular physiology. To assess the need for guidelines, we determined the type and frequency of statistical tests and procedures currently used in the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology. A PubMed search for articles published in the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology between January 1, 2017, and October 6, 2017, provided a final sample of 146 articles evaluated for methods used and 38 articles for indepth analysis. The t-test and ANOVA accounted for 71% (212 of 300 articles) of the statistical tests performed. Of six categories of post hoc tests, Bonferroni and Tukey tests were used in 63% (62 of 98 articles). There was an overall lack in details provided by authors publishing in the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology, and we compiled a list of recommended minimum reporting guidelines to aid authors in preparing manuscripts. Following these guidelines could substantially improve the quality of statistical reports and enhance data rigor and reproducibility.
Institutions: University of Mississippi Medical Center, G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery VA Medical Center, British Heart Foundation, British Heart Foundation Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Edinburgh, University of South Carolina, Colorado School of Public Health, National Jewish Health, University of Colorado Denver
Language: English
Subfield: Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty
Field: Decision Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Awards: G1277891375, G199696075, Systems Biology of Macrophage Polarizaiton Following Myocardial Infarction, G4086130786, G4283668629, G4386296807, G6408202313, Cytokines in monoaminergic nuclei regulating susceptibility to a depressive- and cardiovascular disease-like phenotype, G8117158118, G8796644776, G9000009558, G9000017209, G9000035175, G9000055609, G9000156213, G9000210091, G9000266271, Mississippi Center for Clinical and Translational Research
OpenAlex ID: W2883086905