http://pediatrics.aappublications.org:80 This feed contains articles for Pediatrics Subject Collection "Statistics" Pediatrics http://pediatrics.aappublications.org:80 http://pediatrics.aappublications.org:80/cgi/content/short/124/1/e163?rss=1 As child death continues to decline with advancements in biomedical science and medical technology, nonfatal outcomes such as morbidity, functional status, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) gain greater significance. In this issue of Pediatrics Electronic Pages, Pollack et al1 describe the development and validation of the functional status scale (FSS) to assess functional status among hospitalized children. The FSS was created by a multidisciplinary group of professionals using data from hospitalized children under 18 years, other than preterm infants, with a high risk for functional disabilities. These children included survivors of intensive care, technology-dependent children, and non-intensive care patients with conditions regarded as at high risk for functional disability, such as seizure disorder. ... Odetola, F. 2009-07-01 doi:10.1542/peds.2009-0859 Assessing the Functional Status of Hospitalized Children American Academy of Pediatrics 1 124 165 163 2009-07-01 COMMENTARIES http://pediatrics.aappublications.org:80/cgi/content/short/119/6/1083?rss=1 OBJECTIVE. Pediatric residents are expected to study research design and statistical methods to enable them to critically appraise the pediatric literature and apply the findings to patient care. However, it is not clear how best to teach these skills or even which statistical concepts are most important. An earlier study demonstrated that the statistical complexity of articles published in Pediatrics increased from 1952 to 1982. The goals of our study were to assess whether this trend has continued and to determine the statistical measures and procedures most commonly encountered in Pediatrics. METHODS. We reviewed the print research articles published in Pediatrics, volume 115, 2005, and recorded the statistical measures and procedures reported in each article to determine how many articles used statistics or statistical procedures and what statistical procedures were encountered most commonly. RESULTS. The proportion of articles that used any inferential statistics increased from 48% in 1982 to 89% in 2005. The mean number of inferential procedures per article increased from 2.5 in 1982 to 3.9 in 2005. The most commonly encountered statistical procedures or measures were descriptive statistics, tests of proportions, measures of risk, logistic regression, t tests, nonparametric tests, analysis of variance, multiple linear regression, sample size and power calculation, and tests of correlation. However, a reader who is familiar with only these concepts can understand the analyses used in only 47% of articles. CONCLUSIONS. Our results confirm a trend toward the use of new and increasingly complex statistical techniques in Pediatrics. Educational efforts might most profitably focus on the principles underlying statistical analysis rather than on specific statistical tests. Authors, reviewers, and journal editors have a greater responsibility for ensuring that statistical procedures are used appropriately, as it may be increasingly unrealistic to expect readers to fully understand the statistical analyses used in journal articles. Hellems, M. A. Gurka, M. J. Hayden, G. F. 2007-06-01 doi:10.1542/peds.2006-2330 Statistical Literacy for Readers of Pediatrics: A Moving Target American Academy of Pediatrics 6 119 1088 1083 2007-06-01 ARTICLES http://pediatrics.aappublications.org:80/cgi/content/short/117/1/168?rss=1 The crude birth rate in 2004 was 14.0 births per 1000 population, the second lowest ever reported for the United States. The number of births and the fertility rate (66.3) increased slightly (by <1%) from 2003 to 2004. Fertility rates were highest for Hispanic women (97.7), followed by Asian or Pacific Islander (67.2), non-Hispanic black (66.7), Native American (58.9), and non-Hispanic white (58.5) women. The birth rate for teen mothers continued to fall, dropping 1% from 2003 to 2004 to 41.2 births per 1000 women aged 15 to 19 years, which is another record low. The teen birth rate has fallen 33% since 1991; declines were more rapid for younger teens aged 15 to 17 (43%) than for older teens aged 18 to 19 (26%). Th