NAME: Calcium, inorganic phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase levels in elderly patients 
TYPE: Retrospective chart review 
SIZE: 178 records by 8 variables

DESCRIPTIVE ABSTRACT: 
Each record contains the results of a laboratory analysis of calcium, 
inorganic phosphorous, and alkaline phosphatase. The variable cammol 
is measured as millimoles per liter. Phosmol is inorganic phosphorous 
in millimoles per liter. Alkphos is meauring alkaline phosphatase in 
international units per liter. The purpose of the study was to 
determine if significant gender differences exist in the mean values 
of calcium, inorganic phosphorus, and alkaline phosphatase in 
subjects over age 65. A second purpose was to determine if analytical 
variation between laboratoreis would affect the mean values of the study variables. 
Calcium.dat contains incorrect records that have transcription errors. Calciumgood.dat 
contains the corrected values. 

DATA SOURCE: 
Used with permission from Joan Boyd, Maria Delost, and John Holcomb (1998). Boyd and Delost 
conducted the retrospective chart review for subjects tested in the greater 
Youngstown, OH area. 

DATASETS LAYOUT:
Calcium.dat
Columns 	Variable 	Comment 
9-11		OBSNO		Patient Observation Number 
21-22		AGE 		Years 
33		SEX 		1=Male, 2=Female 
42-44		ALKPHOS 	Alkaline Phosphatase International Units/Liter 
55		Lab 		Lab: 1=Metpath; 2=Deyor; 3=St. Elizabeth's; 
				4=CB Rouche; 5=YOH; 6=Horizon 
63-66		CAMMOL		Calcium mmol/L 
74-77		PHOSMMOL 	Inorganic Phosphorus mmol/L 
88		AGEGROUP 	Age group 1=65-69; 2=70-74; 3=75-79; 4=80-84; 5=85-89 Years

Calciumgood.dat
Columns 	Variable 	Comment 
9-11		OBSNO		Patient Observation Number 
20-22		AGE 		Years 
32-33		SEX 		1=Male, 2=Female 
42-44		ALKPHOS 	Alkaline Phosphatase International Units/Liter 
54-55		Lab 		Lab: 1=Metpath; 2=Deyor; 3=St. Elizabeth's; 
				4=CB Rouche; 5=YOH; 6=Horizon 
62-66		CAMMOL		Calcium mmol/L 
74-77		PHOSMMOL 	Inorganic Phosphorus mmol/L 
88		AGEGROUP 	Age group 1=65-69; 2=70-74; 3=75-79; 4=80-84; 5=85-89 Years

PEDAGOGICAL NOTES: 
Have students use graphical and summary analysis techniques to discover 
"problem" values in calcium.dat. The file calciumgood.dat contains the 
corrected values. A full description of how to use this data can be found in the 
"Datasets and Stories" article "Teaching Students to Use Summary Statistics and 
Graphics to Clean and Analyze Data". To utilize the grid for obtaining 
psuedo patient records to learn the correct data values, click on 
http://www.amstat.org/v13n3/grid/bigtable.htm

REFERENCES: 
Boyd, J., Delost, M., and Holcomb, J., (1998). "Calcium, phosphorus, 
and alkaline phosphatase laboratory values of elderly subjects," 
Clinical Laboratory Science, 11, 223-227.

SUBMITTED BY:
John P. Holcomb, Jr. 
Cleveland State University 
2121 Euclid Ave., RT 1515 
Cleveland, OH, 44115-2214 
j.p.holcomb@csuohio.edu

Angela Spalsbury 
Youngstown State University 
One University Plaza 
Youngstown, OH 4455 
angie@math.ysu.edu