Jodi E. Miller1,2, Peter C. Williamson2,3, Dick J. Drost1,2
1Imaging, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada; 2Medical Biophysics, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; 3Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
Three different 31P MRS referencing methods (external reference, total phosphorus and PCR +ATP) were evaluated by observing coefficients of variance and correlations between methods. In addition, each method was applied to our clinical schizophrenia data to test whether different referencing methods can lead to different significance. The external reference had the highest coefficients of variance and correlations between total phosphorus and PCR + ATP were greatest. Application to our clinical data, revealed the external reference to be the most conservative and total phosphorus the least. When choosing a reference method the possibility of false significant results or overlooking significant results must be considered.