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Sherri P. Varnell, PhD, David M. Murray, PhD, Jessica B. Janega, MS and Jonathan L. Blitstein, MS

Sherri P. Varnell is with NorthropGrumman Mission Systems, Atlanta, Ga. David M. Murray, Jessica B. Janega, and Jonathan L. Blitstein are with the Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Memphis, Tenn.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to David M. Murray, PhD, 3693 Norriswood, 202 Psychology Building, Memphis, TN 38134 (e-mail: d.murray{at}mail.psyc.memphis.edu).

We reviewed group-randomized trials (GRTs) published in the American Journal of Public Health and Preventive Medicine from 1998 through 2002 and estimated the proportion of GRTs that employ appropriate methods for design and analysis.

Of 60 articles, 9 (15.0%) reported evidence of using appropriate methods for sample size estimation. Of 59 articles in the analytic review, 27 (45.8%) reported at least 1 inappropriate analysis and 12 (20.3%) reported only inappropriate analyses. Nineteen (32.2%) reported analyses at an individual or subgroup level, ignoring group, or included group as a fixed effect.

Hence increased vigilance is needed to ensure that appropriate methods for GRTs are employed and that results based on inappropriate methods are not published.

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