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Inconsistent conclusions of statistical significance based on p-values and confidence intervals

Journal of Perinatology volume 38, pages 295–296 (2018)Cite this article

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The trial of erythropoietin monotherapy without therapeutic hypothermia for hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy reported by Malla, et al.[1] includes several secondary outcomes in which the reported p-values are <0.05 while the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) for relative risk cross 1.0. This is reported for the comparison of erythropoietin and placebo groups on the outcomes of abnormal magnetic resonance imaging at hospital discharge, and both cerebral palsy and seizures requiring anticonvulsants at 19 months of age. These discrepancies are challenging as conclusions about statistical significance depend on the criteria used: the null hypotheses are rejected by the p-values but not the 95% CI.

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References

  1. Malla RR, Asimi R, Teli MA, Shaheen F, Bhat MA. Erythropoietin monotherapy in perinatal asphyxia with moderate to severe encephalopathy: a randomized placebo-controlled trial. J Perinatol. 2017;37:596–601.

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Affiliations

  1. Division of Neonatology, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Nicolas Bamat & Erik A Jensen

  2. Center for Pediatric Clinical Effectiveness, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Nicolas Bamat

  3. Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Nicolas Bamat & Erik A Jensen

  4. Department of Bioinformatics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Matthew Bryan

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  1. Nicolas Bamat
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  2. Matthew Bryan
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  3. Erik A Jensen
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Correspondence to Nicolas Bamat.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Bamat, N., Bryan, M. & Jensen, E. Inconsistent conclusions of statistical significance based on p-values and confidence intervals. J Perinatol 38, 295–296 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-017-0027-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-017-0027-1

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