Misuse of Statistical Methods in the Australasian Surgical Literature

Amongst the 456 papers published in the Aust NZ J Surg during 1978 to 1980, there were 91 papers (20%) that were analytical in nature. Of these publications, 71 (78%) contained errors in the usage of nondescriptive statistics. Authors often failed to test for significance when it was appropriate, quoted probability values without reference to a test, and misused basic statistical} techniques.