Statistical Primer for Athletic Trainers: The Difference Between Statistical and Clinical Meaningfulness

To explain statistical significance and clinical meaningfulness and to provide guidance in evaluating the clinical meaningfulness of a study.

Understanding the results and statistics reported in original research remains a large challenge for many certified athletic trainers, which in turn, may be among the biggest barriers to integrating research into athletic training practice.

Statistical significance reflects the influence of chance on the outcome, whereas clinical meaningfulness reflects the degree to which the differences and relationships reported in a study are relevant to athletic training practice. As consumers of original research, athletic trainers must understand the core factors, most notably sample size, that influence statistical significance.

To assist clinicians in evaluating the clinical meaningfulness of a research study, authors should provide the core elements necessary for interpreting statistical significance and discuss the clinical meaningfulness of statistically significant findings.