Evidence map›Paper›PMID 12797839›Full record

ArticleSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2003

Regression to the mean. A threat to exercise science?

Roy J Shephard

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2003. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  13. Antioxidants in Personalized Nutrition and Exercise.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2018
    Review
  14. The isotopic composition and insect content of diet predict tissue isotopic values in a South American passerine assemblage.Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology · 2013
    Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

Roy J ShephardDepartment of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Physical Education and Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. royjshep@shaw.ca

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Regression to the mean (RTM) can bias any investigation where the response to treatment is classified relative to initial values for a given variable without the use of an appropriate control group. The phenomenon and resulting errors of interpretation have been recognised by clinicians in a number of disciplines. The causes of RTM include both intra-individual variance and measurement error. The magnitude of RTM can be estimated quite simply, given a knowledge of intra- and inter-individual variance. RTM can be avoided by using a fully controlled experimental design. Difficulties can also be minimised by making duplicate measurements prior to the experimental manipulation, the first measurement serving for classification, and the second (with randomly distributed variance) allowing an assessment of the response to treatment. Less satisfactorily, surrogate measurements (for example, plasma volume for maximal oxygen intake [VO2(max)]) can assess the bias introduced by an initial non-random sorting of study participants. The impact of RTM on the design and interpretation of investigations has as yet received little consideration by exercise scientists and sports physicians. The response to training is often related to initial measurements of a dependent variable such as heart size, ST segmental depression, fitness or level of physical activity. In particular, analyses of this type have been adduced to support the belief that the response to aerobic training is inversely related to an individual's VO2(max). In fact, RTM may account for a major part of this apparent relationship.

Indexed as

Regression AnalysisExercise TherapyHumansResearch DesignSports Medicine

Identifiers

PMID12797839

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.