Insignificant

Insignificant is a term often used in statistics and medical research to describe a result that is not statistically significant. This means that the observed difference in results could have occurred by chance and does not necessarily indicate a true difference.

Definition

In the context of medical research, an insignificant result means that the observed difference between groups could have occurred by chance. This is often determined by a p-value, which is a measure of the probability that the observed difference could have occurred by chance. A p-value of less than 0.05 is typically considered statistically significant, while a p-value of greater than 0.05 is considered insignificant.

Interpretation

It is important to note that an insignificant result does not necessarily mean that there is no difference between groups. It simply means that the difference is not statistically significant. There may still be a clinically significant difference, which is a difference that has practical implications for patient care.

Clinical Significance vs Statistical Significance

In medical research, it is important to distinguish between clinical significance and statistical significance. A result can be statistically significant but not clinically significant, or vice versa. For example, a drug may significantly reduce blood pressure by a small amount that is not clinically meaningful. Conversely, a drug may reduce blood pressure by a clinically meaningful amount but the result may not be statistically significant due to a small sample size or high variability in the data.

See Also

• Statistical significance
• Clinical significance
• P-value

References

Insignificant Resources
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