Understanding medical research findings requires knowledge of statistics.
For many health care professionals, statistics may seem to have little connection to patient care issues and concerns. However, statistics are useful allies in identifying effective treatments and understanding the overall health of a population.
Significance
Health care emphasizes research-based practice, using treatments which empirical evidence has demonstrated to be effective. This requires health care practitioners to understand statistics to make sense of research studies.
Function
Knowledge of statistics helps medical professionals evaluate studies that assess the efficacy of treatments and interventions. It also equips practitioners to conduct studies of their own, further benefiting patient care.
Benefits
In addition to providing scientific evidence that supports new medical advances, statistics in health care convey valuable information about the health of a society. The National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health points out that statistics enable medical professionals and public health officials to gauge the disparities in health conditions among members of a population.
Tags: health care, medical professionals, patient care
