A recently-used statistical approach may overstate links between amyloid reduction and cognitive outcomes, a study suggested.The technique, known as quantile aggregation, groups data into quantiles, averages results, and identifies apparent patterns.Weak relationships between amyloid and cognition in individual-level analyses were amplified when quantile aggregation was used.
A statistical approach used to support amyloid-targeting treatment for Alzheimer's disease may lead to overstated claims about amyloid-cognition relationships, an analysis suggested.
The study focused on quantile aggregation, a statistical technique that divides trial data into quantiles, averages the results of each quantile, and looks for patterns across groupings.
Weak relationships between amyloid and cognition in individual-level analyses were much stronger when quantile aggregation was used, reported Sarah Ackley, PhD, of the Brown University School of Public Health in Providence, Rhode Island, and co-authors.
"In our simulations, aggregation inflated the strength of the apparent association 29-fold," they wrote in a JAMA Neurology research letter.
