Dependent observations in clinical research

TY - JOUR

T1 - Dependent observations in clinical research

AU - Groenwold, Rolf H.H.

AU - Dekkers, Olaf M.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of European Society of Endocrinology. All rights reserved.

PY - 2024/2

Y1 - 2024/2

N2 - For many statistical methods that are commonly used in medical research, it is assumed that observations are independent. However, when this assumption is violated, alternative methods may be needed. In this paper, we describe why an analysis that ignores the dependencies within the data may provide biased results and outline possible alternatives. This paper aims to create awareness among researchers, readers, and reviewers for this possible source of bias in medical research.

AB - For many statistical methods that are commonly used in medical research, it is assumed that observations are independent. However, when this assumption is violated, alternative methods may be needed. In this paper, we describe why an analysis that ignores the dependencies within the data may provide biased results and outline possible alternatives. This paper aims to create awareness among researchers, readers, and reviewers for this possible source of bias in medical research.

KW - bias

KW - clinical research

KW - epidemiology

KW - statistics

U2 - 10.1093/ejendo/lvae014

DO - 10.1093/ejendo/lvae014

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 38300746

AN - SCOPUS:85184833698

SN - 0804-4643

VL - 190

SP - E1-E3

JO - European Journal of Endocrinology

JF - European Journal of Endocrinology

IS - 2

ER -