In a study designed to test the effectiveness of magnets for treating back pain,
ID: 3153278 • Letter: I
Question
In a study designed to test the effectiveness of magnets for treating back pain, 40 patients were given a treatment with magnets and also a sham treatment without magnets. Pain was measured using a scale of 0 (no pain) to 100 (extreme pain). After given the magnet treatments, the 40 patients had pain scores with a mean of 11.0 and a standard deviation of 2.8. After being given the sham treatments, the 40 patients had pain scores with a mean of 9.1 and a standard deviation of 2.6. 95% confidence intervals were developed for estimates of each mean. The confidence interval for the treatment with magnets experiment was (10.1, 11.9). The confidence interval for the sham treatment with no magnets experiment was (8.3, 9.9). Does the treatment with magnets appear to be effective? Since the confidence intervals overlap, it appears that the magnet treatments are no more effective than the sham treatments. Since the confidence intervals overlap, it appears that the magnet treatments are less effective than the sham treatments.Explanation / Answer
Pain scores after magnet treatment was between 10.1 and 11.9 while pain scores after sham treatment was between 8.3 and 9.9. since both limits of pain scores after sham treatment are less than both limits of pain scores after magnet treatment, we can conclude that magnet treatments are less effective than sham treatment. Therefore, option c is the correct option.