Statistical techniques for the analysis of change in longitudinal studies of the menopause

Abstract

Objective. Critical review of statistical techniques used to analyze data from longitudinal studies. Method. Literature search and classification of statistical methods and their utilization evaluated against known underlying assumptions. Results. One hundred and twenty-three papers found: 1. cross-sectional reduction of data (56%); 2. multifactorial techniques (26%); 3. repeated measurement analysis of variance (14%); 4. other (time series and structural equation modelling) (4%). Conclusions. Cross-sectional reduction violates underlying statistical assumptions. A simple and powerful technique is to mean values prior to and following an event such as the final menstrual period. To allow for..