n1: A number specifying the number of observations in the exposed group.
m1: A number specifying the mean of the exposed group.
s1: A number specifying the standard deviation of the exposed group.
n2: A number specifying the number of observations in the unexposed (reference) group.
m2: A number specifying the mean of the unexposed (reference) group.
s2: A number specifying the standard deviation of the unexposed (reference) group.
alpha: A numeric value specifying further parameter of the skew normal / gamma distribution.
cp: A numeric value specifying the cut point under which the distributional proportions are computed.
tail: A character string specifying the tail of the distribution in which the proportions are computed, must be either 'lower' (default) or 'upper'.
conf.level: Confidence level of the interval.
dist: A character string specifying the distribution, must be either 'normal' (default), 'sk_normal or 'gamma'.
Returns
A list with class 'distdicho' containing the following components: - data.name: The names of the data.
arguments: A list with the specified arguments.
parameter: The mean, standard error and number of observations for both groups.
prop: The estimated proportions below / above the cut point for both groups.
dist.estimates: The difference in proportions, risk ratio and odds ratio of the groups.
se: The estimated standard error of the difference in proportions, the risk ratio and the odds ratio.
ci: The confidence intervals of the difference in proportions, the risk ratio and the odds ratio.
method: A character string indicating the used method.
ttest: A list containing the results of a t-test.
Details
distdichoigen takes no data, but the number of observations as well as the mean and standard deviations of both groups. It first returns the results of a two-group unpaired t-test. Followed by the distributional estimates and their standard errors (see Sauzet et al. 2014 and Peacock et al. 2012) for a difference in proportions, risk ratio and odds ratio. It also provides the distributional confidence intervals for the statistics estimated. If a skew normal (dist = 'sk_normal') or gamma (dist = 'gamma') distribution is assumed, a third parameter alpha needs to be specified. For (dist = 'sk_normal') alpha is described in psn. For dist = 'gamma' alpha is the shape as described in pgamma.
Peacock J.L., Sauzet O., Ewings S.M., Kerry S.M. Dichotomising continuous data while retaining statistical power using a distributional approach. Statist. Med; 2012; 26:3089-3103. Sauzet, O., Peacock, J. L. Estimating dichotomised outcomes in two groups with unequal variances: a distributional approach. Statist. Med; 2014 33 4547-4559 ;DOI: 10.1002/sim.6255. Sauzet, O., Ofuya, M., Peacock, J. L. Dichotomisation using a distributional approach when the outcome is skewed BMC Medical Research Methodology 2015, 15:40; doi:10.1186/s12874-015-0028-8. Peacock, J.L., Bland, J.M., Anderson, H.R.: Preterm delivery: effects of socioeconomic factors, psychological stress, smoking, alcohol, and caffeine. BMJ 311(7004), 531-535 (1995).