BA-plotteR - A web tool for generating Bland-Altman plots and constructing limits of agreement

Area of Science:

• Biostatistics
• Medical Informatics
• Clinical Research Methodology

Background:

• Bland-Altman plots are essential for comparing two measurement methods.
• Existing software often lacks support for complex data with heteroscedasticity or biases.
• There is a need for a dedicated, accessible tool for advanced Bland-Altman analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce BA-plotteR, a free, open-source, web-based tool for generating Bland-Altman plots.
• To provide a dedicated solution for analyzing method agreement with complex data distributions.
• To assist clinical researchers in accurately plotting and analyzing method comparison studies.

Main Methods:

• Development of a web tool using Shiny/R, named BA-plotteR.
• Validation using 20 diverse datasets, comparing tool output to manual calculations.
• Implementation of automated data distribution analysis to guide users.

Main Results:

• BA-plotteR successfully generates Bland-Altman plots and limits of agreement.
• The tool accurately handles data with heteroscedasticity and biases.
• Validation confirmed perfect agreement between the tool's output and manually derived results.

Conclusions:

• BA-plotteR effectively fills the gap for a dedicated, free Bland-Altman plotting tool.
• The webtool simplifies the analysis of complex data for method comparison studies.
• BA-plotteR empowers clinical researchers with a reliable tool for evaluating measurement method agreement.