Factors influencing the statistical planning, design, conduct, analysis and reporting of trials in health care: A systematic review

Background

Trials in health care are prospective human research studies designed to test the effectiveness and safety of health care interventions, such as medications, surgeries, medical devices and other treatment or prevention interventions. Statistics is an important and powerful tool in trials. Inappropriately designed trials and/or inappropriate statistical analysis produce unreliable results and a lack of transparency when reported, with limited clinical use.

Aim

This systematic literature review aimed to identify, describe and synthesise factors contributing to or influencing the statistical planning, design, conduct, analysis and reporting of trials.

Methods

Information sources were retrieved from the following electronic citation databases: PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and CINAHL and the grey literature repository: OpenGrey. 90 articles and guidelines were included in this review. A narrative, thematic synthesis identified the key factors influencing the statistical planning, design, conduct, analysis and reporting of trials in health care.

Findings and conclusion

We identified three analytical themes within which factors are grouped. These are: “what makes a statistician?“, “the need for dynamic statistical involvement and collaboration throughout a trial – it's not just about the numbers”, “and the “accountability of statisticians in ensuring the safety of trial participants and the integrity of trial data”. While important insights emerged about the qualifications, training, roles, and responsibilities of statisticians and their collaboration with other team members in a trial, further empirical research is warranted to elicit the perceptions of trial team members at the centre of statistics in trials.

A course in constructing effective displays of data for pharmaceutical research personnel

Interpreting data and communicating effectively through graphs and tables are requisite skills for statisticians and non-statisticians in the pharmaceutical industry. However, the quality of visual displays of data in the medical and pharmaceutical literature and at scientific conferences is severely lacking. We describe an interactive, workshop-driven, 2-day short course that we constructed for pharmaceutical research personnel to learn these skills. The examples in the course and the workshop datasets source from our professional experiences, the scientific literature, and the mass media. During the course, the participants are exposed to and gain hands-on experience with the principles of visual and graphical perception, design, and construction of both graphic and tabular displays of quantitative and qualitative information. After completing the course, with a critical eye, the participants are able to construct, revise, critique, and interpret graphic and tabular displays according to an extensive set of guidelines.

Teaching statistics to clinical research staff in a pharmaceutical company

Education of clinical research staff in understanding statistical concepts is an area of importance for pharmaceutical companies. This understanding is needed to help them communicate with statisticians using a common language, in designing clinical trials and interpretation of clinical trial results. Such staff has little time for a one-semester or even a one-week continuing education course in statistics. Faced with this reality, we developed a 3-module course,for a total of 1.5 days, which was taught over a period of one month that addresses the needs of this audience. We describe the format and content of the course and provide references that can serve as a resource for teaching such a course.