Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 6, 2026

Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighting Propensity Score using the Military Health System Data Repository and National Death Index
Published on: January 8, 2020
Commentary: indefensible methods of handling missing data in clinical trials
1Department of Psychiatry , Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa; Department of Biostatistics , College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa; Iowa Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and Evaluation , University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.
Background:
Literature continues to appear using inappropriate statistical methods when dealing with missing data in treatment trials. I regularly see last observation carried forward, assumed worst-case scenario, or some other static imputation method still being submitted and published in journals.
Methods:
We briefly cover a few reasons why the use of more modern and defensible methods may not have completely saturated the literature.
Results:
While some delay in complete permeation of appropriate methods is understandable, we are currently past the point for reasonable delay.
Conclusions:
Editors and reviewers should demand appropriate statistical methods in published literature.
Related Concept Videos
Clinical Trials
There are four phases in a clinical trial. A phase one...
Clinical Trials: Overview
Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast,...
Kaplan-Meier Approach
Blinding
Censoring Survival Data

