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. 2021 Feb;126(2):e61-e64.
doi: 10.1016/j.bja.2020.11.005. Epub 2020 Dec 17.

Variability in experimental pain studies: nuisance or opportunity?

Victoria J Madden  1 , Peter R Kamerman  2 , Mark J Catley  3 , Valeria Bellan  4 , Leslie N Russek  5 , Danny Camfferman  3 , G Lorimer Moseley  3
Affiliations

Variability in experimental pain studies: nuisance or opportunity?

Victoria J Madden et al. Br J Anaesth. 2021 Feb.
No abstract available

Keywords: analgesia; pain; statistics; study design; variability.

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Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1
Selected data (from Madden and colleagues15) used to illustrate the consequences of averaging. (a) Rating given by six participants at each stimulus intensity. (b) Average rating from the same six participants at each stimulus intensity. (c) Average rating across all six participants at each stimulus intensity. A sequential loss of information is observed across the three panels as variability is obscured by averaging. Moreover, that the two stimuli marked with arrows (a) are associated with identical ratings illustrates the risk that, if only one reading were taken per stimulus intensity, an erroneous result is highly possible.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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