Clinical significance
Clinical significance
Clinical significance (pronounced: klin-i-kal sig-nif-i-kans) is a term used in medicine and statistics to denote the practical importance of a treatment effect.
Etymology
The term "clinical significance" is derived from the Latin word "clinicus", meaning "bedside", and the English word "significance", which refers to the quality of being worthy of attention.
Definition
Clinical significance refers to the judgment of whether a statistical result has practical implications for patient care. It is often used in the context of clinical trials to determine if a new treatment or intervention has a meaningful effect on the patient's health.
Related Terms
- Statistical significance: This is a mathematical technique to measure whether the results of a study are likely to be true. Statistical significance does not necessarily imply clinical significance.
- Effect size: This is a quantitative measure of the magnitude of a treatment effect. The larger the effect size, the greater the clinical significance.
- Clinical trial: This is a type of research study that tests how well new medical approaches work in people. The results of clinical trials often determine the clinical significance of a treatment.
- Patient care: This refers to the services rendered by members of the health professions for the benefit of a patient. The ultimate goal of patient care is to achieve outcomes that are clinically significant.
Clinical Significance in Research
In medical research, clinical significance is used to determine whether the results of a study have practical implications for patient care. It is not enough for a result to be statistically significant; it must also be clinically significant. This means that the result must have a meaningful effect on the patient's health or quality of life.
Clinical Significance in Practice
In clinical practice, the concept of clinical significance is used to guide treatment decisions. For example, a treatment may have a statistically significant effect, but if the effect is small and does not make a meaningful difference to the patient's health or quality of life, it may not be clinically significant.
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Clinical significance
- Wikipedia's article - Clinical significance
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