Kazis L E, Anderson J J, Meenan R F, Gertman P M
Comput Biomed Res. 1984 Dec;17(6):542-53. doi: 10.1016/0010-4809(84)90019-3.
Three-dimensional computer graphics are used to depict multidimensional outcome measures in a clinical drug trial. This graphics approach was used in a study of 116 patients with active rheumatoid arthritis, in a randomized, double-blind 21-week comparison of placebo, oral gold, and injectable gold. Three health status components, physical disability, psychological status, and pain, were generated using the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales (AIMS). Results were presented in a three-axis perspective, one axis for each component, plotting individual patient vectors for magnitude and direction on a 10 X 10 X 10 coordinate matrix. Vectors for each patient are plotted from time 1 (start) to time 2 (finish) over the 21-week trial period. Vector symbols were added for clarity and subgroup delineation. Vector displays show trends in treatment response that clarify and strongly reinforce the statistical results. It is concluded that three-dimensional vector graphics are a useful adjunct to the statistical analysis of clinical trial results. The graphics facilitate the visual interpretation of a complex data set, and clarify the analysis of the results for both the clinician and researcher.
三维计算机图形用于描绘临床药物试验中的多维结果指标。这种图形方法被用于一项针对116例活动性类风湿性关节炎患者的研究中，该研究对安慰剂、口服金制剂和注射用金制剂进行了为期21周的随机双盲比较。使用关节炎影响测量量表（AIMS）生成了三个健康状况组成部分，即身体残疾、心理状态和疼痛。结果以三维视角呈现，每个组成部分对应一个轴，在一个10×10×10的坐标矩阵上绘制个体患者向量的大小和方向。在为期21周的试验期内，为每位患者绘制从时间1（开始）到时间2（结束）的向量。为了清晰和划分亚组添加了向量符号。向量显示展示了治疗反应的趋势，这些趋势澄清并有力地强化了统计结果。得出的结论是，三维向量图形是临床试验结果统计分析的有用辅助手段。这些图形有助于对复杂数据集进行直观解释，并为临床医生和研究人员澄清结果分析。
