Objective To evaluate the quality of clinical studies on dentistry from the Chinese Journals. Methods Clinical studies in Chinese Journal of Conservative Dentistry of 2002 were searched. The quality of the clinical studies on assessment of treatments’ efficacy was evaluated. Results Among 204 related studies from 12 issues, there were 93 (45.58%) restrospective intervention studies, 6 randomized controlled blinded trials (2.94%), 42 randomized trials without blindness (20.58%), 20 controlled trials without randomization (9.80%) and 25 clinical observational studies (12.25%). The statistical analysis showed that 20 studies were with inappropriate methods. Conclusions It is necessary to improve the design and statistical analysis of clinical studies on stomatology in China to produce high-quality research evidence.
The results of clinical studies are usually described with statistical data. When we conduct systematic reviews of clinical studies it is important that the statistical methods used in the original research are evaluated. By doing so, we can assess the validity and reliability of the evidence.
ObjectiveTo investigate the relation between histology type and prognosis of gastric cancer.MethodsThe clinical database of 311 patients who underwent surgical resection for gastric cancer in our hospital, between 2000 and 2004, was retrospectively reviewed and analyzed with SPSS 13.0. ResultsLymph node metastasis, tumor invasion depth, and Borrman type of gastric cancer were related with histology type （χ2 test, Plt;0.05）. KaplanMeier survival analysis was used to compare the survival rate and showed that there was a significant difference between highly/moderately differentiated cancers and the poorly differentiated (Plt;0.05), while there was no statistical difference between those patients with same invasion depth （Pgt;0.05）. ConclusionThe prognosis of gastric cancers with same invasion depth is same regardless of their histology types.
This article systematically reviews the series of articles on randomized controlled trial (RCT) methodology guidance published in JAMA Surgery between 2022 and 2023. It focuses on providing an overview and guidance on critical aspects such as trial implementation and oversight, participant recruitment, statistical applications, and key points in manuscript publication. The aim is to offer valuable insights and references for surgeons to conduct efficient clinical trials and successfully publish their research findings.
Objective To assess the frequency and the proportion of correct use of statistical analytic methods in five Chinese otorhinolaryngological journals from 2000 to 2002. Methods The statistical methods used in all original articles (n=1 331) published in these journals in three years were evaluated. Results Only 52.0 % of the articles were used statistical analytic methods. And the frequency was higher in basic research (63.5%) than that in clinical research (48.7%) (P＜0.01). The proportions of correct use of statistical analytic methods in the five journals varied from 48.7% to 72.7%, with an average rate of 56.5%. The most frequently used statistical methods were t tests (37.9%), contingency tables (chi-square test) (28.2%) and ANOVAs (14.3%). The most common errors were on the presentation of P values without specifying the test used, using t tests instead of ANOVAs in the comparison among three and more groups, and using unpaired t tests when paired tests were required. Conclusions The rate of application statistical analytic methods is rather high, but incorrect or inappropriate use remain a serious problem.
Objective To compare the clinical efficacy and safety of thrombolysis with anticoagulation therapy for patients with acute sub-massive pulmonary thromboembolism. Methods The clinical data of 84 patients with acute sub-massive pulmonary thromboembolism were analyzed retrospectively, mainly focusing on the in-hospital efficacy and safety of thrombolysis and/ or anticoagulation. The efficacy was evaluated based on 6 grades: cured, markedly improved, improved, not changed, deteriorated and died. Results Among the 84 patients,49 patients received thrombolysis and sequential anticoagulation therapy( thrombolysis group) , 35 patients received anticoagulation therapy alone( anticoagulation group) . As compared with the anticoagulation group, the thrombolysis group had higher effective rate( defined as patients who were cured, markedly improved or improved, 81. 6% versus 54. 3%, P = 0. 007) , lower critical event occurrence ( defined as clinical condition deteriorated or died, 2. 0% versus 14. 3% , P = 0. 032) . There was no significant difference in bleeding rates between the two groups ( thrombolysis group 20. 4% versus anticoagulation group 14. 3% , P gt; 0. 05) . No major bleeding or intracranial hemorrhage occurred in any of the patients. Conclusions Thrombolysis therapy may be more effective than anticoagulation therapy alone in patients with acute sub-massive pulmonary thromboembolism, and thus warrants further prospective randomized control study in large population.
The phase-locking relationship between the firings of neuronal action potentials (i.e., spikes) and the oscillations of local field potentials (LFP) reflects important neural coding information. However, the present analysis methods can only determine whether there has phase-locking, but not the different strengths among various types of phase-locking. In the present paper, we used spike-triggered average (STA) signals and the percentage ratio (named φ) of the STA power to the power of original LFP as an index to evaluate the strengths of phase-locking. Experimental recordings obtained from rat hippocampal CA1 region as well as simulation data were used to evaluate the method. The results showed that the index φ changed monotonically as a function of the strength of phase-locking, and it could provide an effective critical value to divide phase-locking from non-phase-locking. Because the calculation of the index does not need pre-filtering, it can avoid the unwanted influences caused by intentionally limiting the frequencies of LFP oscillations such as in the traditional bin statistical method. Therefore, the index φ provides a novel method to investigate the mechanisms underlying neuronal coding in brain.
Objective To establish a risk prediction model of diabetic retinopathy (DR) for type 2 diabetic patients (T2DM). Methods A total of 315 T2DM patients (600 eyes) were enrolled in the study. There were 132 males (264 eyes) and 183 females (366 eyes). The mean age was (67.28±12.17) years and the mean diabetes duration was (10.86±7.81) years. The subjects were randomly assigned to model group and check group, each had 252 patients (504 eyes) and 63 patients (126 eyes) respectively. Some basic information including gender, age, education degree and diabetes duration were collected. The probable risk factors of DR including height, weight, blood pressure, fasting glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), blood urea, serum creatinine, uric acid, triglyceride, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and urinary protein. The fundus photograph and the axial length were measured. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the correlative factors of DR and establish the regression equation (risk model). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine the cut-off point for the score. The maximum Youden Index was used to determine the threshold of the equation. The check group was used to check the feasibility of the predictive model. Results Among 504 eyes in the model group, 170 eyes were DR and 334 eyes were not. Among 126 eyes in the check group, 45 eyes were DR and 81 eyes were not. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that axial length [β=–0.196, odds ratio (OR)=0.822,P＜0.001], age (β=-0.079,OR=0.924,P＜0.001), diabetes duration (β=0.048,OR=1.049,P=0.001), HbA1c (β=0.184,OR=1.202,P=0.020), urinary protein (β=1.298,OR=3.661,P＜0.001) were correlated with DR significantly and the simplified calculation of the score of DR were as follows:P=7.018–0.196X1–0.079X2+0.048X3+0.148X4+1.298X5 (X1= axial length, X2=age, X3=diabetes duration, X4=glycosylated hemoglobin, X5= urinary protein). The area under the ROC curve for the score DR was 0.800 and the cut-off point of the score was -1.485. The elements of the check group were substituted into the equation to calculate the scores and the scores were compared with the diagnostic threshold to ensure the patients in high-risk of DR. The result of the score showed 84% sensitivity and 59% specificity. ROC curve for the score to predict DR was 0.756. Conclusion Axial length, age, diabetes duration, HbA1c and urinary protein have significant correlation with DR. The sensitivity and specificity of the risk model to predict DR are 84.0% and 59.0% respectively. The area under the ROC curve was 0.756.