Question

Not all EBP projects result in statistically significant results. Define clinical significance, and explain the difference between clinical and statistical significance. How can you use clinical significance to support positive outcomes in your project?

Answer 1

Statistical significance relates to how likely the observed effect is due to chance (i.e. random error due to sampling) instead of a true difference between treatments.

A statistically significant result does not prove anything and does not establish a causal relationship between the exposure and outcome. The finding of an association does not mean that the association is causal in most instances.

Clinical significance relates to the magnitude of the observed effect and whether the magnitude or effect size is big enough to consider changes to clinical care.

Statistical significance allows us to explore quantitatively whether differences between groups sampled from a population are due to chance or some true difference.

Clinical significance pertains to whether an observed effect is important in the treatment of a disease or determination of diagnosis.

In clinical research study results, which are statistically significant are often interpreted as being clinically important. While statistical significance indicates the reliability of the study results, clinical significance reflects its impact on clinical practice.

In research analysis, results are statistically significant when the probability value generated during the analysis is less that the certainty level needed by a researcher.

Clinical significance is essentially a subjective interpretation of research findings as meaningful for patient under care, and therefore likely to influence the behavior of healthcare provider.

In evidence based research practice, statistical significance must always be determined before determination of clinical significance. However, clinical significance is usually a subjective evaluation and cannot be established by a single experiential test. I can use clinical significance to support positive outcomes in my project outcome by ensuring that the result is statistically significant. This is due to the fact that majority of statistically significant findings are normally have clinical significance.

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