Estimation of reference ranges from normal samples Export

@article{citeulike:4562222, abstract = {Reference ranges are very widely used in medicine, and are typically computed as mean plus or minus two standard deviations. However, their precise statistical basis is rarely discussed, and is open to different interpretations. They are sometimes calculated using the Student t distribution and satisfy the condition that the expected coverage of the reference population is some nominal value such as 95 per cent or 99 per cent. A case is made for using reference ranges which are based on estimating symmetric centiles of the underlying normal distribution, and appropriate formulae are given. The simplest such estimator, the sample mean plus or minus the normal-based number of sample standard deviations, is shown to have both theoretical and practical advantages.}, address = {Department of Medical Physics, Royal Postgraduate Medical School (University of London), Ducane Road, London W12 0NN, U.K.; Division of Medical Statistics, The Medical School, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Framlington Place, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE2 4HH, U.K.}, author = {Royston, P. and Matthews, J. N. S.}, citeulike-article-id = {4562222}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/sim.4780100503}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/113396651/ABSTRACT}, doi = {10.1002/sim.4780100503}, journal = {Statistics in Medicine}, keywords = {construction, estimation, range, reference}, number = {5}, pages = {691--695}, posted-at = {2009-05-20 16:25:44}, priority = {2}, title = {Estimation of reference ranges from normal samples}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/sim.4780100503}, volume = {10}, year = {1991} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:4562222 L3 - citeulike-article-id:4562222 N2 - Reference ranges are very widely used in medicine, and are typically computed as mean plus or minus two standard deviations. However, their precise statistical basis is rarely discussed, and is open to different interpretations. They are sometimes calculated using the Student t distribution and satisfy the condition that the expected coverage of the reference population is some nominal value such as 95 per cent or 99 per cent. A case is made for using reference ranges which are based on estimating symmetric centiles of the underlying normal distribution, and appropriate formulae are given. The simplest such estimator, the sample mean plus or minus the normal-based number of sample standard deviations, is shown to have both theoretical and practical advantages. IS - 5 JF - Statistics in Medicine AD - Department of Medical Physics, Royal Postgraduate Medical School (University of London), Ducane Road, London W12 0NN, U.K.; Division of Medical Statistics, The Medical School, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Framlington Place, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE2 4HH, U.K. EP - 695 TI - Estimation of reference ranges from normal samples VL - 10 SP - 691 KW - construction KW - estimation KW - range KW - reference AU - Royston, P AU - Matthews, JNS PY - 1991/// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/sim.4780100503 ER -