Back to Search
Start Over
Confidence intervals and p-values in clinical decision making.
- Source :
-
Acta Paediatrica . Aug2008, Vol. 97 Issue 8, p1004-1007. 4p. 1 Chart. - Publication Year :
- 2008
-
Abstract
- Clinical trials are usually performed on a sample of people drawn from the population of interest. The results of a trial are, therefore, estimates of what might happen if the treatment were to be given to the entire population of interest. Confidence intervals (CIs) provide a range of plausible values for a population parameter and give an idea about how precise the measured treatment effect is. CIs may also provide some useful information on the clinical importance of results and, like p-values, may also be used to assess ‘statistical significance’. Although other CIs can be calculated, the 95% CI is usually reported in the medical literature. In the long run, the 95% CI of an estimate is the range within which we are 95% certain that the true population parameter will lie. Despite the usefulness of the CI approach, hypothesis testing and the generation of p-values are common in the medical literature. The p-value is often used to express the probability that the observed differences between study groups are due to chance. p-values provide no information on the clinical importance of results. Conclusion: It is good practice for authors of research articles to report CIs with their estimates instead of just p-values as p-values are less informative and convey no information on clinical importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 08035253
- Volume :
- 97
- Issue :
- 8
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Acta Paediatrica
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 34545775
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2008.00836.x