HOW TO BECOME A BETTER CONSUMER OF THE LITERATURE

Czech version

Authors: R. L. Sur
Authors‘ workplace: Assistant Professor of Surgery Division of Urology, UCSD Comprehensive Kidney Stone Center, Director
Published in: Urol List 2009; 7(4): 46-49

Overview

Every urologists, irrespective as to whether he practices in a community or academic setting is faced with the routine challenge of sifting through a myriad of scientific articles each month. Whether the literature is industry sponsored literature obtained through the mail or one of a growing body of peer reviewed urological and surgical journal articles, there seems to be no end to the body of evidence that the urologist must evaluate. The challenge is daunting to all of us, in particular those that have not received any further training in clinical study design and biostatistics since medical school. The following article hopes to address this issue by introducing the basic tenets of how to evaluate with regards to the statistics. The article will examine several Inferential statistical concepts (reaching conclusions beyond the data itself) that should assist one in critical appraisal of the literature.

Key words:
evidence-based medicine, statistics, outcomes, urology

Sources

1. Breau RH, Carnat TA, Gaboury I. Inadequate statistical power of negative clinical trials in urological literature. J Urol 2006; 176(1): 263–266.

2. Thompson IM, Goodman PJ, Tangen CM et al. The influence of finasteride on the development of prostate cancer. N Engl J Med 2003; 349(3): 215–224.

3. Motulsky H. Intuitive biostatistics. New York: Oxford University Press; 1995.

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Article was published in

Urological Journal

2009 Issue 4