Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38455295›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in epidemiology2022

Modeling non-linear relationships in epidemiological data: The application and interpretation of spline models.

Noah A Schuster, Judith J M Rijnhart, Jos W R Twisk, Martijn W Heymans

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in epidemiology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 68 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
68citing 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

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

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8 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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

4 authors.

Noah A SchusterAmsterdam UMC location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Epidemiology and Data Science, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Judith J M RijnhartAmsterdam UMC location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Epidemiology and Data Science, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Jos W R TwiskAmsterdam UMC location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Epidemiology and Data Science, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Martijn W HeymansAmsterdam UMC location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Epidemiology and Data Science, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Objective: Traditional methods to deal with non-linearity in regression analysis often result in loss of information or compromised interpretability of the results. A recommended but underutilized method for modeling non-linear associations in regression models is spline functions. We explain spline functions in a non-mathematical way and illustrate the application and interpretation to an empirical data example. Methods: Using data from the Amsterdam Growth and Health Longitudinal Study, we examined the non-linear relationship between the sum of four skinfolds and VO Results: The spline models fitted the data better than the traditional methods. Increasing the number of knots in the LSP model increased the explained variance (from Conclusion: Spline functions should be considered more often as they are flexible and can be applied in commonly used regression analysis. RCS regression is generally recommended for prediction research (i.e., to obtain the predicted outcome for a specific exposure value), whereas LSP regression is recommended if one is interested in the effects in a population.

Indexed as

epidemiological methodslinear splinesnon-linearityregression analysisrestricted cubic splinesspline functions

Identifiers

PMID38455295
PMCPMC10910897

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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.