Significance Chasing in Hand Surgery Literature.

Area of Science:

• Medical Research
• Biostatistics
• Hand Surgery

Background:

• Significance chasing, the manipulation of data to achieve statistical significance, is a recognized issue across scientific disciplines.
• Previous studies have documented this phenomenon in various research fields.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the potential existence of significance chasing within the published literature of hand surgery.
• To analyze p-values from hand surgery articles to identify patterns indicative of data manipulation.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive analysis of all p-values was conducted on articles published in three leading hand surgery journals.
• Statistical methods were employed to examine the distribution of p-values, focusing on any preponderance just below the 0.05 significance level.

Main Results:

• A total of 3,124 p-values were extracted, with 1,320 values falling below 0.05.
• A statistically significant clustering of p-values between 0.04 and 0.05 was observed (Binomial test, p = 0.0441).
• The 0.05 threshold exhibited the greatest deviation from a fitted exponential curve, suggesting non-random distribution.

Conclusions:

• The findings suggest that significance chasing may be a potential issue within the hand surgery literature.
• Further investigation is warranted to confirm the extent and implications of this practice in the field.