LETTER
Acyclovir Plus Steroids for Herpes Zoster
David A. Herbert, MD
15 May 1997 | Volume 126 Issue 10 | Page 831
TO THE EDITOR:
In their recent article on herpes zoster, Whitley and colleagues [1] present tables of statistics but almost no clinically useful information. Instead of the number of days it took for their patients to respond, we are given only relative risks. Thus, we know that at 1 month, the relative risk of uninterrupted sleep in the prednisone group compared with the nonprednisone group was 1.65, but we cannot tell if this means that the average time to response was 29 compared with 33 days (no big deal) or 10 compared with 50 days (great news). Even if data were collected only at 1 and 6 months, it would be useful to know what the actual percentage of responders was at those times. Their predigestion of the data similarly prevents the reader from looking at the treatment groups individually, such as acyclovir with and without prednisone. The only outcome data are shown in their Figure on total healing.
Although statistical rigor is to be commended, its role is to help analyze and interpret results, not to supplant the results themselves. Editors have a responsibility to ensure that statistics are used appropriately; in this instance, it seems that this did not occur. As a result, a potentially valuable article will be largely ignored.
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Author and Article Information
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Fair Oaks, CA 95628-6153
1. Whitley RJ, Weiss H, Gnann JW Jr, Tyring S, Mertz GJ, Pappas PG, et al. Acyclovir with and without prednisone for the treatment of herpes zoster. A randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Ann Intern Med. 1996; 125:376-83.
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