PLAB 1 (GMC, international medical graduates) · Statistics and evidence-based practice

Data analysis, evidence and appraisal

9 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

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Random questions from this topic, one at a time. You see the answer and the explanation straight after each one.

All 9 questions

  1. Hospital length of stay in a sample is right-skewed. Which summary statistic is most appropriate to describe the central value?
  2. Which test is most appropriate for comparing the mean blood pressure before and after treatment in the same 30 patients, if the differences are normally distributed?
  3. Which test compares the proportion of smokers between two independent groups?
  4. A randomised trial analyses all patients in the groups to which they were originally assigned, including those who stopped treatment. What is this approach called, and why is it used?
  5. In a trial, the person allocating participants cannot know the next allocation in advance. Which bias does this concealment of allocation reduce?
  6. A funnel plot of studies in a meta-analysis is asymmetrical, with small negative studies missing. What does this suggest?
  7. A study reports a standardised mortality ratio of 120 for a local hospital. How should this be interpreted?
  8. A researcher finds a correlation of minus 0.8 between hours of exercise and resting heart rate. Which is the correct interpretation?
  9. In a study of five different outcomes, the researcher wants to keep the overall type I error at 0.05 using the Bonferroni method. What significance threshold should be used for each test?

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