TY - JOUR
T1 - What Do Anesthesiologists Know about p Values, Confidence Intervals, and Correlations
T2 - A Pilot Survey
AU - Schober, Patrick
AU - Bossers, Sebastiaan M.
AU - Dong, Phi-Vu
AU - Boer, Christa
AU - Schwarte, Lothar A.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Background. Statistical methods form the basis for clinical decision-making in evidence-based anesthesia. Data on the knowledge of anesthesiologists about statistics are lacking. This pilot study aims to provide a first impression of the anesthesiologists' understanding of commonly used concepts in statistics. Methods. A cross-sectional pilot survey was performed at a major international anesthesia conference. The questionnaire consisted of three basic multiple-choice questions on the topics "p value," "confidence interval," and "correlation." Results of the questions are reported as percentage of correct answers (95% confidence interval). Results. 65 questionnaires were analyzed. Forty participants were male, and mean age was 40 (standard deviation: 10) years. The question addressing the p value was correctly answered by 15% (95% CI: 8 to 27%) of respondents. The question concerning the 95% confidence interval was answered correctly by 28% (95% CI: 18 to 40%) of participants. For the question about correlation, a correct answer was given by 52% (95% CI: 40 to 64%). None of the participants answered all questions correctly, and 19 participants provided a wrong answer to all questions. Conclusions. Anesthesiologists seem to demonstrate a poor understanding of statistical key concepts. Further studies are needed to address statistical knowledge gaps among anesthesiologists more comprehensively.
AB - Background. Statistical methods form the basis for clinical decision-making in evidence-based anesthesia. Data on the knowledge of anesthesiologists about statistics are lacking. This pilot study aims to provide a first impression of the anesthesiologists' understanding of commonly used concepts in statistics. Methods. A cross-sectional pilot survey was performed at a major international anesthesia conference. The questionnaire consisted of three basic multiple-choice questions on the topics "p value," "confidence interval," and "correlation." Results of the questions are reported as percentage of correct answers (95% confidence interval). Results. 65 questionnaires were analyzed. Forty participants were male, and mean age was 40 (standard deviation: 10) years. The question addressing the p value was correctly answered by 15% (95% CI: 8 to 27%) of respondents. The question concerning the 95% confidence interval was answered correctly by 28% (95% CI: 18 to 40%) of participants. For the question about correlation, a correct answer was given by 52% (95% CI: 40 to 64%). None of the participants answered all questions correctly, and 19 participants provided a wrong answer to all questions. Conclusions. Anesthesiologists seem to demonstrate a poor understanding of statistical key concepts. Further studies are needed to address statistical knowledge gaps among anesthesiologists more comprehensively.
KW - Journal Article
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85042132219&origin=inward
UR - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29158732
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/4201289
DO - https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/4201289
M3 - Article
C2 - 29158732
SN - 1687-6962
VL - 2017
JO - Anesthesiology research and practice
JF - Anesthesiology research and practice
M1 - 4201289
ER -