Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24419042›Full record

ArticleMolecular psychiatry2014

P-values in genomics: apparent precision masks high uncertainty.

L C Lazzeroni, Y Lu, I Belitskaya-Lévy

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular psychiatry, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
20citing papers in PubMed, 1 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

20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
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  4. Article
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  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. The earth is flat (PeerJ · 2017
    Article
  13. Cross-Disorder Psychiatric Genomics.Current behavioral neuroscience reports · 2016
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. The debate about p-values.Shanghai archives of psychiatry · 2015
    Article
  17. Genetics and brain morphology.Neuropsychology review · 2015
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Review
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

3 authors.

L C LazzeroniDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA, USA.
Y Lu1] VA Cooperative Studies Program Palo Alto Coordinating Center, Mountain View, CA, USA [2] Department of Health Research and Policy, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA, USA.
I Belitskaya-Lévy1] VA Cooperative Studies Program Palo Alto Coordinating Center, Mountain View, CA, USA [2] Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA [3] Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.

Funding

6/6 - The Genetics of Endophenotypes and SchizophreniaR01MH086135 · NIMH · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI LAZZERONI, LAURA C. · 2010 to 2013
$1.3M
NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH086135
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Scientists often interpret P-values as measures of the relative strength of statistical findings. This is common practice in large-scale genomic studies where P-values are used to choose which of numerous hypothesis test results should be pursued in subsequent research. In this study, we examine P-value variability to assess the degree of certainty P-values provide. We develop prediction intervals for the P-value in a replication study given the P-value observed in an initial study. The intervals depend on the initial value of P and the ratio of sample sizes between the initial and replication studies, but not on the underlying effect size or initial sample size. The intervals are valid for most large-sample statistical tests in any context, and can be used in the presence of single or multiple tests. While P-values are highly variable, future P-value variability can be explicitly predicted based on a P-value from an initial study. The relative size of the replication and initial study is an important predictor of the P-value in a subsequent replication study. We provide a handy calculator implementing these results and apply them to a study of Alzheimer's disease and recent findings of the Cross-Disorder Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. This study suggests that overinterpretation of very significant, but highly variable, P-values is an important factor contributing to the unexpectedly high incidence of non-replication. Formal prediction intervals can also provide realistic interpretations and comparisons of P-values associated with different estimated effect sizes and sample sizes.

Indexed as

Models, StatisticalAlzheimer DiseaseBrainGenomicsHumansMental DisordersPolymorphism, Single NucleotideUncertainty

Identifiers

PMID24419042
PMCPMC4255087

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.