LETTER
Aspirin for Asymptomatic Carotid Artery Stenosis
Warren S. Browner, MD, MPH
1 September 1996 | Volume 125 Issue 5 | Page 420
TO THE EDITOR:
Dr. Cote and colleagues [1] recently reported that aspirin therapy had no effect on the incidence of vascular events or death in asymptomatic patients with carotid narrowing (hazard ratio, 0.90 [95% CI, 0.62 to 1.33]. They interpreted the results of this excellent study as allowing them "to rule out, with 95% confidence, the possibility that aspirin may reduce the risk for the composite outcomes by 40% or more." However, 95% CIs do not imply that investigators can be 95% confident: They simply indicate the range of results that are consistent with the measured point estimate [2, 3]. Confidence in being correct, especially 95% confidence, will usually require supporting evidence from other studies.
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Author and Article Information
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Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, CA 94211
1. Cote R, Battista RN, Abrahamowicz M, Langlois Y, Bourque F, Mackey A, et al. Lack of effect of aspirin in asymptomatic patients with carotid bruits and substantial carotid narrowing. Ann Intern Med. 1995; 123:649-55.
2. Browner WS, Newman TB. Are all significant P values created equal? The analogy between diagnostic tests and clinical research. JAMA. 1987; 257:2459-63.
3. Browner WS, Newman TB. Confidence intervals. Ann Intern Med. 1986; 105:973-4.
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