For more information about odds ratios and other statistics used in medicine, the following website provides a link to the Centre for Statistics in Medicine at Oxford University, and a series of “Statistics Notes” published in BMJ by Doug Altman, Martin Bland, and others ( ). ![]() This article has covered the basics of odds ratios. ![]() Understanding odds ratios, how they are calculated, what they mean, and how to compare them is an important part of understanding scientific research. Second, while the psychiatric literature shows that overall, depression is strongly linked to suicide and suicide attempt ( Kutcher & Szumilas, 2009), in a particular sample, with a particular size and composition, and in the presence of other variables, the association may not be significant. It will be taught at an introductory level for students with junior or senior college-level mathematical training including a working knowledge of calculus. One must consider the confidence intervals and p value (where provided) to determine significance. This class presents the fundamental probability and statistical concepts used in elementary data analysis. First, presence of a positive OR for an outcome given a particular exposure does not necessarily indicate that this association is statistically significant. This example illustrates a few important points. Interestingly, the odds of persistent suicidal behaviour in this group given presence of borderline personality disorder at baseline was twice that of depression (OR 3.8, 95% CI:1.6–8.7), and was statistically significant (p 0.002) In fact, this is indicated in Table 1 of the reference article, which shows a p value of 0.07. ![]() Since the 95% CI of 0.96 to 2.80 spans 1.0, the increased odds (OR 1.63) of persistent suicidal behaviour among adolescents with depression at baseline does not reach statistical significance.
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