Evidence map›Paper›PMID 16675816›Full record

ReviewBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2006

The cost of dichotomising continuous variables.

Douglas G Altman, Patrick Royston

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1,185 papers, 13 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1,185citing papers in PubMed, 13 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

1,185 citing papers in PubMed, 13 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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1,125 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Douglas G AltmanCancer Research UK/NHS Centre for Statistics in Medicine, Wolfson College, Oxford OX2 6UD. doug.altman@cancer.org.uk
Patrick Royston

Funding

Medical Research Council MC_U122861386
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

PubMed holds no abstract for this paper.

Indexed as

Data Interpretation, StatisticalRegression Analysis

Identifiers

PMID16675816
PMCPMC1458573

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.