Abstract:
Consistent with the Committee on Publication Ethics guidelines, we the above authors are initiating a partial retraction of our paper: Lawrence CHD, Chen IYD. The effect of scuba diving on airflow obstruction in divers with asthma. Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine. 2016 March;46(1):11-14. We wish to make the following statement: "Following independent statistical review of our paper we would like to withdraw the following: all subgroup statistical analysis including Table 1 and the statement "∗ P 〈 0.05, non-asthmatic controls vs Group A3 asthmatics" in the legend of Figure 2; the discussion statement: "We hope that these data will provide practitioners assessing and risk stratifying people with asthma prior to diving with a modest evidence basis on which to advise them of their relative risk of airflow obstruction compared to the normal population." The reason for this is that, following publication, it was identified that the scientific method for comparing between groups was inappropriate for the study design. We are extremely disappointed that our statistical method for calculating significance when comparing groups was inadequate but equally grateful to the journal editors and readers for their input in rectifying this and maintaining scientific integrity. We would like to make absolutely clear that at no point did we seek to mislead or misguide the journal or any other group. We have learnt a valuable lesson in study design and the limitations of statistics. The observational data as published looking at airflow obstruction in divers with asthma in real-world conditions remain valid and in the context of diving and asthma still have value in addition to what is already in the scientific domain. We hope that this can serve as a foundation for future studies in this field".
Lawrence, Chen, , , , , , , (2016). Partial retraction of Lawrence CHD, Chen IYD. The effect of scuba diving on airflow obstruction in divers with asthma. Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine. 2016 March;46(1):11-14. Diving and hyperbaric medicine, 2016 12;46(4):262. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27966207