title: Understanding statistical terms: 1.
abstract: An increasing number of statistical terms appear in journal articles and other medical information. A working knowledge of these is essential in assessing clinical evidence. With this in mind, we are producing a series of explanatory articles covering various statistical terms and their uses. This, the first article in the series, will focus on some of the most common terms used in randomised controlled trials.
mesh_terms: D015982:Bias; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D015994:Incidence; D016011:Normal Distribution; D015995:Prevalence; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012107:Research Design; D018401:Sample Size; D013223:Statistics as Topic