Statistics: Producing Unreliable Facts from Reliable Figures?

Editorialists disagree on how to interpret recent findings on rates of hospitalizations for acute cardiovascular diseases in patients with psoriasis.

There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics. — popularized by Mark Twain and attributed by him to Benjamin Disraeli

The authors of a recent study1 in the Netherlands find that, contrary to prevailing suppositions, patients with psoriasis had no more hospitalizations for acute cardiovascular ischemic disease than matched controls. Their findings were published alongside two editorials, one detailing the study's shortcomings2 and one applauding its authors for finding the truth.3 Whom are we to believe, and what is the truth about the risk for cardiovascular disease in patients with psoriasis?

What we know:

Patients with psoriasis are more likely to be overweight, and weight gain precedes the development of psoriasis and may p…

Author

Jeffrey P. Callen, MD

Disclosures

Consultant / Advisory board XOMA; Eli Lilly; Celgene

Equity Various trust accounts

Editorial boards JAMA Dermatology; UpToDate

Leadership positions in professional societies Association of Professors of Dermatology (President-Elect)