The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 273 No 7327 p785
27 November 2004

This article
Reprint   Photocopy

PDF 90K, Acrobat Reader

· Registration exam (2)
· Pharmacist prescribing
· Agenda for change
· New contract (3)
· Retention fees (2)
· Statins
· Levothyroxine
· The Journal

Letters to the Editor

The Journal

Results are meaningless

From Mr R. Sinclair, MRPharmS

Am I alone in questioning the statistical significance of an increase in the eradication of abdominal infection of 0.4 per cent, as indicated in a brief item in The Journal (13 November, p709)?
The report quotes the results of a single unidentified study that showed a 91.3 per cent eradication rate for tigecycline against 89.9 per cent for imipenem with cilastatin. I am in no position to question the claims for the actual study but, at a time when the publication of research results are in the public eye, to quote such a figure with no other supporting data, such as a sample size, confidence interval, etc, in my view, renders the results meaningless.

Roy Sinclair
New Malden, Surrey

Send your letter to The Editor

Previous Topic (Levothyroxine)