RT Book, Section
A1 Portney, Leslie G.
A1 Watkins, Mary P.
SR Print(0)
ID 1138252699
T1 Regression
T2 Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to Practice, 3e
YR 2017
FD 2017
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9780803646575
LK fadavispt.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1138252699
RD 2024/04/16
AB Correlation  statistics  are  useful  for  describing  the  relative  strength  of  a  relationship  between  two  variables;  however,  when  a  researcher  wants  to  establish  this  relationship  as  a  basis  for  prediction,  a  regression  procedure  is  used  (see  Box  24.1).  The  ability  to  predict  outcomes  and  characteristics  is  crucial  to  effective  clinical  decision  making  and  goal  setting.  It  also  has  important  implications  for  efficiency  and  quality  of  patient  care,  especially  in  situations  where  resources  are  limited.  Regression  analysis  provides  a  powerful  statistical  approach  for  explaining  and  predicting  quantifiable  clinical  outcomes.  For  example,  clinicians  have  looked  at  functional  assessments  in  patients  with  extensive  burns  to  determine  which  factors  are  predictive  of  quality  of  life  outcomes.1  Early  language  and  nonverbal  skills  have  been  shown  to  be  important  predictors  of  outcome  in  adaptive  behavior  in  communication  and  socialization  for  children  with  autism.2  Researchers  have  studied  patients  with  stroke  to  determine  the  relative  contributions  of  specific  impairments  toward  prediction  of  discharge  function,  rehabilitation  length  of  stay,  and  discharge  destination.3  Therapists  have  investigated  factors  predictive  of  timely  and  sustained  recovery  following  multidisciplinary  rehabilitation  in  workmen's  compensation  claimants  with  low  back  pain.4  Such  analyses  help  us  explain  our  empirical  clinical  observations  and  provide  information  that  can  be  used  to  set  realistic  goals  for  our  patients.  The  purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  describe  the  process  of  regression  and  how  it  can  be  used  to  interpret  clinical  data.