Study design and statistical methods in Indian medical journals

Abstract

Aims and Objectives: Types of study designs and statistical method utilized by authors
for articles published in foreign journals has been widely documented. Few such attempts
are also done for articles published in Chinese and Pakistani Journals but no such attempt
has been documented for articles published in Indian Medical Journals. This manuscript
is an attempt to appraising articles published in Indian Medical Journals in terms of study
designs and statistical methods used. Materials and Methods: All the original articles
published in 2009 from 14 PubMed indexed Indian Medical Journals were analyzed for
study designs and statistical methods. These journals were Annals of Indian Academy of
Neurology (AIAN), Indian Journal of Orthopedics (IJOrtho), Indian Journal of Critical
Care Medicine (IJCCM), Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology
(IJDVL), Indian Journal of Nephrology (IJN), Indian Journal of Dermatology (IJD),
Indian Journal of Ophthalmology (IJO), Indian Journal of Urology (IJU), Indian Journal
of Anesthesia (IJA), Indian Journal of Psychiatry (IJPsy), Indian Pediatrics (IP), Indian
Journal of Medical Research (IJMR), Indian Journal of Medical Science (IJMS) and
Indian Journal of Community Medicine (IJCM). Values are shown as frequency and
percentages. Results: Majority of the published articles were based on prospective study
designs (60.8%). Clinical trials were as method of study was documented in 12.5%
articles. Three most common tests were t test (23.2%), Chi-square test (21.9%) and
analysis of variance (ANOVA) (10.5%). However, statistical methods were not at all
used by 26.2% articles. Conclusions: Knowledge regarding prospective studies and
statistical methods related to contingency table, t test and ANOVA needs to be updated
to the Undergraduate and Postgraduate students.