Confidence intervals and their relevance for interpretation of results. Audit of the journal "Strahlentherapie und Onkologie"

Background: The statistical quality of the contributions to "Strahlentherap ie und Onkologie" is assessed, aiming for improvement of the journal and co nsequently its impact factor. Material and Methods: All 181 articles published during 1998 and 1999 in th e categories "review", "original contribution", and "short communication" w ere analysed concerning the appropriate use of confidence intervals. Result: Forty-foul publications were excluded from analysis, because they d id not contain quantitative data or because the quotation of a confidence i nterval would not have been meaningful for other reasons. Of the remaining 137 publications only 27 presented all relevant results with clearly define d and correctly interpreted confidence intervals. This corresponds to a fra ction of 20% (95% CI: 13-28%), Conclusion: Authors, peer reviewers, and editors could contribute to improv e the quality of the journal by setting value on the documentation of confi dence intervals.