Abstract
Science and related research activities are always subject to errors. Statistical accuracy is necessary in order to overcome erroneous researching and reporting practices. The present article aimed to review the current literature on statistical errors in clinical medicine articles, and to provide rheumatologists with basic recommendations regarding the use of common statistical methods in research articles. With this purpose, PubMed/MEDLINE and Web of Science databases were searched by using relevant keywords. Data so far indicate that statistical errors are common in published articles from several disciplines of medicine. Statistics is the key element of any research activity, thus, implementing statistics at each step (hypothesis development, study design, sampling/data collection, data analysis, presentation) of every research is mandatory. In this regard, awareness of common statistical errors, basic knowledge on statistical methodology and consulting an expert in biostatistics from the beginning of the research process would be of value for rheumatologists.
Highlights
Rheumatology is an ever-evolving area of medicine bearing a high research potential
Following well-accepted guidelines such as Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT), the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE), the Transparent Reporting of Evaluations with Nonrandomised Designs (TREND), and the Statistical Analysis and Methods in the Published Literature (SAMPL) is highly recommended to keep good research practice and standards in researching.[11,22,23,24,25]
Statistical misuse is common among practices of medicine
Summary
Rheumatology is an ever-evolving area of medicine bearing a high research potential. Researching is necessary to build up evidence regarding the uncertain or unsolved topics in rheumatology. Science has always been subject to error.[1] Publishing erroneous results derived from inadequately managed research projects may mislead future researchers as well as physicians who intend to use these results in daily clinical practice. In this regard, mentorship is of importance for guiding research naive trainees to manage research projects. Authors have focused on the importance of statistical correctness in medical research articles from different disciplines.[2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14] data on
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