The power of statistical studies in consultation-liaison psychiatry.

Several authors recently have proclaimed the need for empirically based research articles in consultation-liaison psychiatry. The authors report that although the proportion of empirically based studies published in Psychosomatics increased 148% from 1979 to 1989, the power of statistical analyses and the deleterious effect of multiple tests were often neglected. A power analysis of empirical studies published in the 1989 volume year of Psychosomatics is reported, showing statistical power to be low for all but the most robust of effect sizes.