Journal Information
Journal ID (publisher-id): BM
Journal ID (nlm-ta): Biochem Med
Title: Biochemia Medica
Abbreviated Title: Biochem. Med.
ISSN (print): 1330-0962
ISSN (electronic): 1846-7482
Publisher: Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine
Article Information
Copyright: 2017, Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry
Date received: 20 May 2016
Date accepted: 12 October 2016
Publication date (print and electronic): 15 February 2017
Volume: 27
Issue: 1
Pages: 5-13
Publisher ID: bm-27-5
DOI: 10.11613/BM.2017.001
The logic of equivalence testing and its use in laboratory medicine
Author notes:
Corresponding author: cristiano.ialongo@gmail.com
Hypothesis testing is a methodological paradigm widely popularized outside the field of pure statistics, and nowadays more or less familiar to the largest part of biomedical researchers. Conversely, the equivalence testing is still somehow obscure and misunderstood, although it represents a conceptual mainstay for some biomedical fields like pharmacology. In order to appreciate the way it could suit laboratory medicine, it is necessary to understand the philosophy behind it, and in turn how it stemmed and differentiated along the history of classical hypothesis testing. Here we present the framework of equivalence testing, the various tests used to assess equivalence and discuss their applicability to laboratory medicine research and issues.
Keywords: biostatistics; statistical data analysis; methodological studies