RESEARCH NOTES
How to present research data?
The above can be rewritten as:
“Statistical significant difference was only observed at 6, 12 and 18 months after diabetic self-management program between intervention and control group (Fig 1B)”. [The p values and numbers of patients are already presented in Figure 1B and need not be repeated.]
- Avoid redundant words and information. Do not repeat the result within the text, tables and figures. Well-constructed tables and graphics should be self-explanatory, thus detailed explanation in the text is not required. Only important points and results need to be highlighted in the text.
TABLES
Tables are useful to highlight precise numerical values; proportions or trends are better illustrated with charts or graphics. Tables summarise large amounts of related data clearly and allow comparison to be made among groups of variables. Generally, well-constructed tables should be self explanatory with four main parts: title, columns, rows and footnotes.
- Title. Keep it brief and relate clearly the content of the table. Words in the title should represent and summarise variables used in the columns and rows rather than repeating the columns and rows’ titles. For example, “Comparing full blood count results among different races” is clearer and simpler than “Comparing haemoglobin, platelet count, and total white cell count among Malays, Chinese and Indians”.
- Columns and rows. Columns are vertically listed data, and rows are horizontally listed data. Similar data ought to be presented in columns. Often these are dependant variables and allow clearer comparison among groups. Compare Table 1A and 1B, the dependant variables in Table 1B are waist circumference, HbA1c, SBP and etc. Table 1B shows a better comparison of dependant variables among ethnicity than Table 1A. The first column to the left is usually a list of its independent variables i.e. Malay, Chinese, Indian and others, as the example of Table 1B. A table with too many dependent variables would become too wide for a page. There are two alternatives to this problem. We can list the dependant variables in the first left column and independent variables across the top. However, doing so should not compromise clarity of the message we want to get across. The second alternative is to cut down unnecessary columns, which, can be replaced by footnotes explaining their definition. For example, we can eliminate the columns on p, student-t test and chi-square values (see Table 2). Significant test result can be marked using * or # with a footnote. Presenting exact values of statistical data with no significant difference is rarely useful.
Table 1A: Baseline waist circumference, HbA1c, Blood pressure and LDL-cholesterol level among Malay, Chinese, Indian and others races
Malay |
Chinese | Indian |
Others |
|
| Waist circumference | 98 | 102 | 105 | 95 |
| HbA1c | 8.89 | 8.66 | 9.0 | 8.7 |
| SBP | 165.1 | 164.0 | 170.34 | 168 |
| DBP | 98.5 | 101 | 99.3 | 97.6 |
| LDL-C | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 3.1 |
Table 1B: Mean (SD) baseline diabetic metabolic control among different races
WC* (SD) |
HbA1c (SD), % | SBP |
DBP |
LDL-C |
|
| Malay | 98 (15) | 8.9 (1.5) | 165 (21) | 98 (13) | 3.8 (0.9) |
| Chinese | 102 (18) | 8.7 (2.1) | 164 (28) | 101 (15) | 3.9 (0.7) |
| Indian | 105 (22) | 9.0 (1.8) | 170 (36) | 99 (22) | 3.4 (1.2) |
| Others | 95 (28) | 8.7 (2.5) | 168 (40) | 97 (28) | 3.1 (1.0) |
*WC, waist circumference (in cm); 
SBP, systolic blood pressure (in mmHg); 
DBP, diastolic blood pressure (in mmHg); 
LDL-cholesterol (in mmol/L)
Table 2: Comparison of the presenting symptoms among patients with and without thrombocytopaenia
| Symptom | Platelet count (%) Normal |
Thrombocytopaenia | OR* (95% CI) |
| Presented at or after day 3 of fever | 26 (65) | 31 (93.9) | 5.88(1.20-28.8) |
| Myalgia | 32 (80) | 23 (82.1) | 1.09 (0.51-2.31) |
| Headache | 25 (64.1) | 22 (78.6) | 1.56 (0.75-3.26) |
| Nausea/vomiting | 18 (46.2) | 23 (76.7) | 2.24 (1.12-4.50) |
| Arthralgia | 26 (40) | 13 (54.2) | 1.43 (0.76-2.69) |
| Retro-orbital pain | 9 (23.1) | 6 (26.1) | 1.11 (0.54-2.29) |
| Rash | 5 (12.5) | 8 (24.2) | 1.47 (0.88-2.49) |
*Odds ratio (95% confidence interval), p=0.04, p=0.01,
, , , ||, ¶, **, , ).1 These symbols and abbreviation should be standardised in all tables to avoid confusion and unnecessary long list of footnotes. Proper use of footnotes will reduce the need for multiple columns (e.g. replacing a list of p values) and the width of columns (abbreviating waist circumference to WC as in table 1B)
.