Easy and accurate variance estimation of the nonparametric estimator of the partial area under the ROC curve and its application.

The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve is a popular technique with applications, for example, investigating an accuracy of a biomarker to delineate between disease and non-disease groups. A common measure of accuracy of a given diagnostic marker is the area under the ROC curve (AUC). In contrast with the AUC, the partial area under the ROC curve (pAUC) looks into the area with certain specificities (i.

What is the Proper Sample Size for Studies of Periodontal Treatment?

Small sample sizes are a common problem in biomedical research, and the periodontal literature is no exception. It is a problem leading to not only reduced statistical power but also an inappropriate statistical inference of a treatment effect. Using statistical methods with an insufficient sample size may give rise to an increased chance of falsely detecting treatment efficacy.

Patient education integrated with acupuncture for relief of cancer-related fatigue randomized controlled feasibility study.

Background: Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is a prominent clinical problem. There are calls for multi-modal interventions.

Methods: We assessed the feasibility of delivering patient education integrated with acupuncture for relief of CRF in a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) with breast cancer survivors using usual care as control.