Checklist for Statistical Topics in Anesthesia & Analgesia Reviews

In my role as Statistics Editor for Anesthesia & Analgesia, I have reviewed 200 papers each year for the past 3 years. This editorial summarizes the recurring statistical issues identified in papers submitted to the journal. Table 1 is an annotated version of my checklist. The checklist relies on some basic statistical definitions. Table 2 is an annotated glossary for words and phrases in Table 1. Many of these definitions are taken verbatim from Wikipedia. They are shown in quotes. Table 1 is not intended as a complete checklist. Anesthesia & Analgesia encourages authors to follow the CONSORT, STROBE, or PRISMA checklists, which cover basic topics. Table 1 includes topics not directly addressed in these checklists. More than three-quarters of articles in general medical journals include relatively advanced topics such as those in Table 1. Anesthesia & Analgesia has more mathematics and statistics than many clinical journals because of the nature of our research and practice. Performing the work in teams including analysts, statisticians, engineers, etc., helps assure that quantitative topics including those listed in Table 1 are addressed adequately. DISCLOSURES Name: Franklin Dexter, MD, PhD. Role: This author helped write the manuscript. Conflicts: Franklin Dexter reported no conflicts of interest. Attestation: Franklin Dexter approved the final manuscript.