USF-LVHN SELECT

Multidimensional reduction of multicentric cohort heterogeneity: An alternative method to increase statistical power and robustness.

Publication/Presentation Date

11-1-2016

Abstract

Modern clinical research takes advantage of multicentric cohorts to increase sample size and gain in statistical power. However, combining individuals from different recruitment centers provides heterogeneity in the dataset that needs to be accounted for to obtain robust results. Sophisticated statistical multivariate models adjusting for center effect can be implemented, but they can become unstable and can be complex to interpret with the increasing number of covariates to consider. Here, we present a multidimensional reduction technique to identify heterogeneity in a French multicentric cohort of hematopoietic stem cell transplantations and characterize a homogeneous subgroup prior to performing simple statistical univariate analyses. The exclusion of outliers allowed the identification of two genetic factors associated with post-transplantation overall survival. We therefore provide proof-of-concept that a sample size reduction method can efficiently account for heterogeneity and center effect in multicentric cohorts while increasing statistical power and robustness for discovery of new association signals.

Volume

77

Issue

11

First Page

1024

Last Page

1029

ISSN

1879-1166

Disciplines

Medical Education | Medicine and Health Sciences

PubMedID

27262455

Department(s)

USF-LVHN SELECT Program, USF-LVHN SELECT Program Students

Document Type

Article

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