title: On the likelihood of decompression sickness.
abstract: The occurrence of decompression sickness in animals and humans is characterized by the extreme variability of individual response. Nevertheless, models and analyses of decompression results have generally used a critical value approach to separate safe and unsafe decompression procedures. Application of the principle of maximum likelihood provides a formal and consistent way to quantify decompression risk and to apply models to data on decompression outcome. By use of the maximum likelihood principle, a number of models were fit to data from dose-response and maximum pressure-reduction experiments with both rats and men. Several different formulations of two- and three-parameter models described the data well. In addition to summarizing data sets, the analyses provide a way to maximize the value of experimental observations, test theoretical predictions, estimate uncertainty in conclusions, and recommend safe practices.
mesh_terms: D000388:Air; D000818:Animals; D003664:Decompression / Q000379:methods; D003665:Decompression Sickness / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006371:Helium / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012306:Risk
chemical_list: D006371:Helium