Clinical Significance Essay: Understanding Clinical and Statistical Significance

Clinical significance involves testing for the practical effects of a designed treatment. A clinical study aims to address a clinical problem and its clinical significance indicates that the research’s outcomes solve or attempt to correct the targeted problem. For instance, when conducting a clinical study on a mental health issue, the clinical significance of the recommended intervention would be its ability to reduce the risk factors of that problem, such as decreasing the risk of depression or post-traumatic disorder. Thus, the clinical significance is the practical significance of medical intervention. On the other hand, statistical significance is the assertion that data obtained from a study are attributed to a particular cause and not the product of chance or coincidence (Sharma, 2021). Accordingly, clinical significance differs from statistical significance based on the obtained results where clinical significance depicts an actual impact of treatment while statistical significance demonstrates the statistical possibility of the study’s outcomes by determining the p-value and testing the hypothesis.

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I will use the clinical significance in testing the practicability of the interventions I propose to address the problem identified in my project. Sharma (2021) suggests that research findings can be statistically significant but from a clinical viewpoint, they are not clinically significant in that they do not actually solve the clinical problem. Clinical significance tells if a treatment has the desired effectiveness or efficacy. Therefore, although the starting point of clinical projects is to test for the results’ statistical significance by proving that the alternative hypothesis is true and that the p-value is less than the set significance level, establishing the clinical significance will be fundamental in determining the quantifiable effects of my treatment. Ultimately, I will apply clinical significance to affirm the clinical viability and verifiability of my project.

Reference

Sharma, H. (2021). Statistical significance or clinical significance? A researcher’s dilemma for appropriate interpretation of research results. Saudi Journal of Anaesthesia, 15(4), 431-434. https://doi.org/10.4103/sja.sja_158_21