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A Surgeon’s Guide to Biostatistical Inferences: How to Avoid Pitfalls

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Surgical Research

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Abstract

In this last dcade of the twentieth century, surgeons are finding themselves making decisions based on statistical analyses. These analyses appear regularly in professional journals and scientific presentations, but they are also used by governments and insurance companies in the formulation of health care policy documents. Mass media may disseminate this information, often ignoring serious pitfalls associated with the statistical methods used to reach the conclusions published. The consumer generally assumes that the statistical tests used in peer-reviewed journal articles are appropriate. It has been estimated, however, that up to two-thirds of the studies appearing in some of the best medical journals contain statistical errors or unwarranted conclusions. 1,2 In order to critically appraise this information, some understanding of biostatistical methods and their constraints has become essential. Education to enable surgeons to do so is being incorporated into the training of future surgeons and will be a valuable part of the continuing education of practicing surgeons. This chapter is intended to contribute to this effort, building on the information provided in earlier chapters.

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Authors
  1. J. Olak
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  2. R. C.-J. Chiu
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, University of Cologne, Ostmerheimer Strasse 200, D-51109, Cologne, Germany

    H. Troidl

  2. Joint Centre for Bioethics, and The Toronto Hospital, University of Toronto, 200 Elizabeth Street EN 10-230, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 2C4, Canada

    M. F. McKneally

  3. Department of Surgery, McGill University, Montreal General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3G 1A4

    D. S. Mulder

  4. Department of Surgery, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 23298-0645, USA

    A. S. Wechsler

  5. Department of Anaesthesia, Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114-2696, USA

    B. McPeek

  6. Genentech, Inc., 460 Point San Bruno Boulevard, South San Francisco, California, 94080-4990, USA

    W. O. Spitzer

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© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Olak, J., Chiu, R.CJ. (1998). A Surgeon’s Guide to Biostatistical Inferences: How to Avoid Pitfalls. In: Troidl, H., McKneally, M.F., Mulder, D.S., Wechsler, A.S., McPeek, B., Spitzer, W.O. (eds) Surgical Research. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1888-3_37

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1888-3_37

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-7325-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-1888-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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