Comparison of statistical methods for the analysis of patient-reported outcomes (PROs), particularly the Short-Form 36 (SF-36), in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) using standardised effect size (SES): an empirical analysis

The SES is a simple method to unify and compare estimates produced from various statistical methods on different scales. As these methods did not produce identical SES values, it is crucial to comprehensively understand and carefully select appropriate statistical methods, especially for analysing PROs like SF-36, to avoid drawing wrong estimates and conclusions using clinical trial data. Future research will focus on simulation analysis to compare the estimation accuracy and robustness of these methods.