The effect of different statistical approaches on image quality data obtained from radiological examinations

Introduction
Selection of optimal image acquisition protocols in medical imaging remains a grey area, the superimposed use of the Likert scale in radiological image quality evaluations creates an additional challenge for the statistical analysis of image quality data.
Using a simulation study, we have trialled a novel approach to analysing radiological image quality Likert scale data.
Methods
A simulation study was undertaken where simulated datasets were generated based on the distribution of Likert scale values according to varying image acquisition protocols from a real dataset. Simulated Likert scale values were pooled in four different ways; the mean, median, mode and the summation of patient Likert scale values of which the total was assigned a categorical Likert scale value. Estimates of bias, MAPE and RMSPE were then calculated for all four pooling approaches to determine which method most accurately …

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