Seeing is believing: good graphic design principles for medical research.

Have you noticed when you browse a book, journal, study report, or product label how your eye is drawn to figures more than to words and tables? Statistical graphs are powerful ways to transparently and succinctly communicate the key points of medical research. Furthermore, the graphic design itself adds to the clarity of the messages in the data. The goal of this paper is to provide a mechanism for selecting the appropriate graph to thoughtfully construct quality deliverables using good graphic design principles. Examples are motivated by the efforts of a Safety Graphics Working Group that consisted of scientists from the pharmaceutical industry, Food and Drug Administration, and academic institutions.

Global Regulatory Landscape for Aggregate Safety Assessments: Recent Developments and Future Directions.

Notwithstanding successful harmonization efforts, the global regulatory framework governing product safety is complex and continually evolving, as evidenced by additional regional guidance and regulations. In this regulatory review, we provide an overview from both global and regional perspectives. A historical perspective, with a focus on recent developments, enables identification of important long-term trends, such as a shift from single-case medical review of serious adverse events to an interdisciplinary evaluation of aggregate data for the purpose of judging product causality and informing benefit-risk assessments. We will show how these trends lead to opportunities for closer interdisciplinary collaboration, for bridging the gap between preand postmarketing surveillance, and for a more proactive determination of patient populations with a positive benefit-risk profile for product use. We will conclude by pointing to ongoing and future work that seeks to provide specific solutions for ongoing aggregate safety evaluation.

Statistical Practices of Safety Monitoring: An Industry Survey.

The Biopharmaceutical Section of the American Statistical Association (ASA) formed a Safety Monitoring Working Group to strengthen collaborations between biostatisticians and safety scientists. The task began by surveying current needs and practices regarding available statistical safety tools and methods, regulatory guidance, and processes needed to support their implementation. The goal is for biostatisticians to become fully engaged safety team members by having the necessary safety skill set including appropriate methodology, regulatory guidance and access to appropriate tools. In this publication, we will discuss our survey results that reveal current practices at 22 pharmaceutical companies and demonstrate how the survey instrument can be used to map an action plan for meeting the demand for improved quantitative safety monitoring.

Potential effects of fluticasone propionate on bone mineral density in patients with asthma: a 2-year randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of treatment with fluticasone propionate vs placebo on bone, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function, and the eyes in patients with asthma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 160 patients with asthma who had minimal previous exposure to corticosteroids was conducted from July 1994 through June 1997. Patients received fluticasone at 88 microg twice daily, fluticasone at 440 microg twice daily, or placebo twice daily for 2 years. Bone mineral density (BMD) was evaluated every 6 months by lumbar spine, proximal femur, and total body scans. Measurements of HPA axis function and ophthalmic evaluations were conducted at similar intervals. RESULTS: Among the 3 groups, no significant differences were observed in BMD at week 104 (at any anatomical site). Mean percent change from baseline in the lumbar spine was less than 1% for all 3 groups. At all time points, HPA axis function was similar in the 88-microg fluticasone group compared with the placebo group. For mean change from baseline in corticotropin-stimulated peak cortisol (P = .003 and P = .02 at weeks 24 and 52, respectively) and area under the stimulated plasma cortisol vs time curve (P = .002 and P = .02 at weeks 24 and 52, respectively), statistically significant reductions from baseline were observed in the 440-microg fluticasone group compared with the placebo group. These reductions of 10% to 13% from baseline were not accompanied by other signs of systemic effect and did not persist with continued treatment (at weeks 76 and 104). No important ocular changes were observed. CONCLUSION: Long-term treatment with 88 microg of fluticasone twice daily was comparable to placebo in all skeletal, ophthalmic, and HPA axis function assessments. Treatment with fluticasone at 440 microg twice daily resulted in no significant effects on BMD and a statistically significant but not clinically important temporary reduction in cortisol production.