Isaak-Alexandros Koutsoklenis

Exam Statistics
Research methods in Sports and Exercise Science
Master programme of Sport and Exercise Science – Human Performance

Halmstad University

A study on “the number of knee-bendings/30s” change over time

Research questions

1. Are there any significant differences between male female respondents in the age, number of
knee bendings for the injured knee, Pain VAS baseline and BMI?

2. Is the change over a fixed period of time of the number of the knee bendings for the injured
knee in the subjects significant?

3. Is there a correlation between the number of the knee bendings for the injured knee and the
Pain VAS?

4. Can age, sex, pain vas and BMI predict the change in knee-bendings over time?

5. Can age, sex, pain vas and BMI predict an improvement or deterioration in number of knee-
bendings over time?

Statistics

Each one of the research question was analysed using inferential statistics according to the type
of the required outcome and the nature of the employed variables. First of all a new variable was
calculated, and named ‘knee_bend_new’. The variable represents the variance of knee bending
of injured objects from the baseline time to 5 years after that. The descriptive data of the new
variable is as follows in Table A (mean= 4.7, min=-33, max=48) which shows that the
rehabilitation over the time had debatable impact that requires further elaboration.

Table A: Descriptive data of the new variable

Mean Median Mode Std. Deviation Minimum Maximum
N=54
4.7 5.5 7.00 16.7 -33.00 48.00
The first research question addresses the issue of the differences between genders in age, knee
bending (baseline), pain VAS (baseline), and BMI (baseline). To explore this difference I chose
to perform the independent samples T-Test. The Independent-Samples T Test procedure
compares means for two groups of cases. Ideally the sample of cases must be randomly assigned
into groups however this is not particularly useful in a small sample like the given one.

In order to explore the second research question the paired-samples T-Test was employed. The
Paired-Samples T Test procedure compares the means of two variables for a single group. So it
can be used to explore the differences within gender groups in two different times.

In order to explore the third research question a correlation analysis was employed. Correlations
measure how variables are related. Pearson's correlation coefficient, which is a measure of linear
association, was estimated. A scatter plot was also produced in order to screen the data for
outliers that can skew the results and evidence of a linear relationship.

Research question four was explored through the development of a linear regression formula. A
linear regression formula explains the contribution of a number of independent variables to the
production of a dependent variable. Gender that was used for the estimation of the formula is a
categorical variable, thus non-continuous, therefore it was treated as a dummy variable.

Finally, research question five was explored through a Logistic Regression Analysis. LRA is
similar to linear regression but it is more suitable for the analysis of formulas that the depended
variable is dichotomous. Therefore, the dependent variable was dichotomized and for
convenience purposes independent variables were dichotomized too where applicable.
Findings

RQ1: Are there any significant differences between male female respondents in the age,
number of knee bendings for the injured knee, Pain VAS baseline and BMI?

Table 1: Differences between genders.

Sex Baseline
(mean ± st.dev.) p-value

Age Male (n=19) 43.85 ± 10.07 0.593

Female (n=15) 42.07 ± 10.03
Total (n=54) 43.36 ± 10.87
No of knee-bendings injured Male (n=19) 28.85 ± 10.76 0.635
knee, baseline (per 30s) Female (n=15) 25.67 ± 8.17
Total (n=54) 27.69 ± 10.14
Pain VAS baseline, 0-100 Male (n=19) 48.67 ± 23.55 0.401
(0=no pain, 100=worst Female (n=15) 42.53 ± 24.61
possible pain) Total (n=54) 46.96 ± 23.77
Body Mass Index, baseline Male (n=19) 27.29 ± 4.01 0.002
(kg/m x m) Female (n=15) 23.09 ± 4.45
Total (n=54) 26.13 ± 4.51

From the employment of the Independent-Samples T Test it is shown that the only significant
difference between different genders is on the BMI baseline (kg/m x m). All the other p values
are way higher than the threshold of p=0.05.
RQ2: Is the change over a fixed period of time of the number of the knee bendings for the
injured knee in the subjects significant?

Table 2: Gender differences in knee bending over time.

Baseline 5 years follow-up Change over 5 years Significance

(mean ± (mean ± st.dev.) (mean ± st.dev.)
st.dev.)
Male (n=39) 28.85 ± 10.76 32.87 ± 11.62 4.03 ± 16.92 0.152
Female 25.67 ± 8.17 32.13 ± 13.79 6.47 ± 16.55 0.146
(n=15)
Total (n=54) 27.69 ± 10.14 32.67 ± 12.13 4.70 ± 16.70 0.43

There is no statistical significant difference in the knee bending over 5 years for the total sample
and the separate genders. The p values are all much higher than p=0.05 which is the threshold to
justify statistical significance.

RQ3: Is there a correlation between the number of the knee bending for the injured knee
and the Pain VAS?
 R2 = 0.001

Figure 1: Relationship between the change on knee bending and pain VAS

There is a moderate to low relationship between the two variables as the Pearson’s correlation
coefficient r is equal to 0.31. This may be a result of the outliers as shown in figure 1 (see dotted
cycles). The R2 is equal to 0.001 (0.0009582). R2 is the coefficient of determination and can be
used to show the exact impact of the independent to the dependent variable. The results show
that this impact is very low. A further analysis of the dataset may give further insight on the
relationship of the variables.
RQ4. Can age, sex, pain vas and BMI predict the change in knee-bendings over time?

Table 3: Predictive formula of the impact of age, sex, pain vas, and BMI to the change over five
years for the number of the knee bending of the injured knee.

B. Sig R2
(Constant) 45.500 .001
Sex (female=0, male=1) 1.539 .713
Age -.267 .094
0.60
Body Mass Index, baseline (kg/m x m) -.020 .962
Pain VAS baseline, 0-100 (0=no pain, 100=worst -.039 .593
possible pain)

The stronger predictor of the dependant variable proves to be the baseline BMI. The Regression
formula is as follows

Change over five years for the number of the knee bending of the injured knee = 45.5 +
(1.539*Sex) +(-0.267*Age)+ (-0.20* Body Mass Index, baseline (kg/m x m)) + (-0.039* Pain
VAS baseline, 0-100 (0=no pain, 100=worst possible pain))

RQ5: Can age, sex, pain vas and BMI predict an improvement or deterioration in number
of knee-bendings over time?
Table 4: Logistic regression analysis of the impact of the independent variables to the
dichotomised number of the knee bending for the injured knee.

sex      
    Frequency Odds 95% CI p= Sig
ratio
Valid female 15 1.0 .2 3.0 .246
54 male 39 0.5
Age_dic      
    Frequency      
Valid Below 30 1.0 .2 1.6 .455
54 43
Above 24 1.6
43
pain_dic      
    Frequency      
Valid Below 26 1.0 .5 5.0 .088
54 47
Above 28 3.1
47
bmi_dic      
    Frequency      
Valid Below 30 1.0 .8 11.2 .735
54 26
Above 24 0.6
26

Firstly, the predictive power of the model needs to be estimated. The Nagelkerke's R squared
shows the power of explanation of the logistic regression model. In this case the Nagelkerke R
Square=0,124 which is low and show that the depended variables are not a reliable set of
predictors. There is no significance in the odds ratio in any independent variable (age, pain vas,
sex and BMI) as a response to the fifth research question.