Clinicians’ Perceived Understanding of Biostatistical Results in the Medical Literature: A Cross-Sectional Study

<i>Background and objectives:</i> The continuum of evidence-based medicine (EBM) depends solely on clinicians&#8217; commitment to keep current with the latest clinical information. Exploration on clinicians&#8217; understanding of biostatistical results in the medical literature...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kurubaran Ganasegeran, Alan Swee Hock Ch’ng, Mohd Fadzly Amar Jamil, Irene Looi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-05-01
Series:Medicina
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1010-660X/55/6/227
Description
Summary:<i>Background and objectives:</i> The continuum of evidence-based medicine (EBM) depends solely on clinicians&#8217; commitment to keep current with the latest clinical information. Exploration on clinicians&#8217; understanding of biostatistical results in the medical literature is sparse to date. This study aimed to evaluate clinicians&#8217; perceived understanding of biostatistical results in the medical literature and the factors influencing them. <i>Materials and Methods:</i> A cross-sectional study was conducted among 201 clinicians at the Seberang Jaya Hospital, a cluster-lead research hospital in Northern Malaysia. A self-administered questionnaire that consisted of items on sociodemographics, validated items on clinicians&#8217; confidence level in interpreting statistical concepts, perceived understanding of biostatistics, and familiarity with different statistical methods were used. Descriptive, univariate, and multivariate analyses were conducted. <i>Results:</i> Perceived understanding of biostatistical results among clinicians in our sample was nearly 75%. In the final regression model, perceived understanding was significantly higher among clinicians who were able to interpret <i>p</i>-values with complete confidence (AOR = 3.0, 95% CI 1.1&#8722;8.1), clinicians who regularly encounter measures of central tendencies (AOR = 2.3, 95% CI 1.1&#8722;5.2), and clinicians who regularly encounter inferential statistics (AOR = 2.2, 95% CI 1.1&#8722;4.5) while appraising the medical literature. <i>Conclusions:</i> High perceived understanding was significantly associated with clinicians&#8217; confidence in interpreting statistical concepts and familiarity with different statistical methods. Our findings form a platform to understand clinicians&#8217; ability to appraise rigorous biostatistical results in the medical literature for the retrieval of evidence-based data to be used in routine clinical practice.
ISSN:1010-660X