We read with great interest the recent article by Treiser et al,
7
published in the June 2015 issue of the Journal of Pain, entitled “Experimental comparison of parametric versus nonparametric analyses of
data from the Cold Pressor Test.” On the basis of systematic reviews and intensive
Monte Carlo simulations, Treiser et al noted frequent but inappropriate usage of the
parametric t-test and recommended use of the nonparametric Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney (WMW)
test for cold pressor test data, as well as routinely checking assumptions of normality
for other types of pain outcomes. We share the perspectives of Treiser et al and herein
make a few more comments on this important topic.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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References
- Asymptotic normality and efficiency of certain nonparametric tests.Ann Math Stat. 1958; 29: 927-999
- Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test used for data that are not normally distributed.Anesth Analg. 2013; 117: 537-538
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- Experimental comparison of parametric versus nonparametric analyses of data from the Cold Pressor Test.J Pain. 2015; 16: 537-548
Article info
Footnotes
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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- Experimental Comparison of Parametric Versus Nonparametric Analyses of Data From the Cold Pressor TestThe Journal of PainVol. 16Issue 6
- PreviewParametric statistical methods are common in human pain research. They require normally distributed data, but this assumption is rarely tested. The current study analyzes the appropriateness of parametric testing for outcomes from the cold pressor test (CPT), a common human experimental pain test. We systematically reviewed published CPT studies to quantify how often researchers test for normality and how often they use parametric versus nonparametric tests. We then measured the normality of CPT data from 7 independent small to medium cohorts and 1 study of >10,000 subjects.
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- Response to the Letter to the Editor: Experimental Comparison of Parametric Versus Nonparametric Analyses of Data From the Cold Pressor TestThe Journal of PainVol. 17Issue 1
