Letters
Risk illiteracy
The real problem is the biomedical ignorance of statisticians
BMJ 2011; 342 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d2579 (Published 21 April 2011) Cite this as: BMJ 2011;342:d2579- Sam Shuster, emeritus professor of dermatology1
- 1University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
- sam{at}shuster.eclipse.co.uk
Heath’s review supports a book that gives a “devastating dissection of the statistical illiteracy of doctors,”1 when the real problem is the devastating biomedical ignorance of statisticians.
Why should a doctor need to know how to calculate the chance of breast cancer in a patient with a positive screening mammogram, given …
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