Do multiple outcome measures require p-value adjustment?

Background Readers may question the interpretation of findings in clinical trials when multiple outcome measures are used without adjustment of the p-value. This question arises because of the increased risk of Type I errors (findings of false "significance") when multiple simultaneous hypotheses are tested at set p-values. The primary aim of this study was to estimate the need to make appropriate p-value adjustments in clinical trials to compensate for a possible increased risk in committing Type I errors when multiple outcome measures are used. Discussion The classicists believe that the chance of finding at least one test statistically significant due to chance and incorrectly declaring a difference increases as the number of comparisons increases. The rationalists have the following objections to that theory: 1) P-value adjustments are calculated based on how many tests are to be considered, and that number has been defined arbitrarily and variably; 2) P-value adjustments reduce the chance of making type I errors, but they increase the chance of making type II errors or needing to increase the sample size. Summary Readers should balance a study's statistical significance with the magnitude of effect, the quality of the study and with findings from other studies. Researchers facing multiple outcome measures might want to either select a primary outcome measure or use a global assessment measure, rather than adjusting the p-value.

                                            [
  "009:25"
]
                                        

                                            {
  "fn": "NIH",
  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:info@nih.gov"
}
                                        

                                            [
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Official Government Data Source",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Visit the original government dataset for complete information, documentation, and data access.",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC117123/"
  }
]
                                        

                                            [
  "clinical-trials",
  "nih",
  "outcome-measures",
  "p-value-adjustment",
  "type-i-error"
]
                                        

                                            [
  "009:032"
]
                                        

                                            {
  "name": "National Institutes of Health",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
                                        

                                            [
  "NIH"
]