Statistical significance in one group alone does not establish a difference between groups.
What the supplied paper reports
Ten elderly patients with severe dementia and ten without cognitive impairment received midazolam to a common clinical sedation target. A near-infrared hemoglobin index declined within the dementia group, but the adjusted between-group comparison did not meet conventional significance.
Study limits
The index was an indirect cerebral-flow measure, and the sample was small. Similar clinical sedation scores do not guarantee identical physiological effects or establish lasting brain injury.
Forensic implications
Report the within-group and between-group analyses separately. Do not convert an indirect nine-percent index change into a proven reduction in every patient’s perfusion. Case analysis needs baseline status, monitoring method and the actual clinical outcome.
Source and related reading
Source: PMC7878763, supplied full-text paper. Findings are paraphrased; forensic implications are an interpretation.
Related: Dominant Midazolam Sedation Was Associated With ICU Delirium in a Matched Cohort.
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