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Tools for Educating Nonstatisticians and Improving Consistency and Quality of Animal Research Protocols (305329)
Lonnie Grantham, US Army Institute of Surgical Research
*Laura L.F. Scott, US Army Institute of Surgical Research
Keywords: education, communication, consulting, checklists, decision trees, guidelines, templates, quality
Background: The Epi/Biostats (E/B) Branch of the US Army Institute of Surgical Research (ISR) functions as an internal consulting group for over 75 primary investigators (PIs) conducting combat casualty care research. Although PIs must use the Department of Defense Animal Use Protocol Form, the research conducted at the ISR varies considerably, as do the statistical backgrounds of both the PIs and the E/B staff, often resulting in protocols with inconsistent sample size calculations and statistical methods. Methods: Information from a variety of internal and external documents and websites, including the ARRIVE checklist and UCLA Statistical Consulting Group webpages, was used to develop a number of tools for use by E/B staff, PIs, and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Results: Created documents included an animal protocol review checklist, basic statistical methods decision trees and guidelines, and template language for sample size calculations and data analysis methods with examples. Conclusions: These tools promote consistency and quality and can be used to help educate non-statisticians, thereby streamlining development and review of research protocols.