In this world of evidence based medicine the funny bedside vocabulary of medical statistics has withstood the test of time. The following words are liberally used by physicians of all walks of life.
We never bother to find what these words mean to our patients !
Here is a crude and wild numerical attempt to decode these words.
- Always 99 %
- It s a rule 95-99%
- Almost always 90-95%
- Very common > 90 %
- Common > 75%
- Uncommon < 30 %
- Rare < 10 %
- Very rare < 5 %
- It is an exception 2 -5 %
- Remote < 2 %
- Never < 1%
Apart from the above there two hugely popular medical words used over million times every day in all walks of medical practice.
They are ” May” and “May not”
The greatness of these words lies in the fact it can convey any of the above 10 meanings in a single phrase without any fuss !
Further , the words may and may not are numberless un-quantified statistical jargons that can convey a deep meaning or . . . no meaning depending upon the circumstances !
Doctor , is there a possibility of my stent getting occluded as i have skipped the clopidgrel ,and aspirin for the past two weeks
You may be at risk . . . but you may not develop an heart attack immediately . I would advice you start the drug immediately .
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