Difficulty in Understanding Statistics: Medical Students’ Perspectives in a Nigerian University

Abstract

PURPOSE: The study was conducted to examine the characteristics of medical students vis-a-vis difficulty in understanding statistics and to explore the perceived causes of this difficulty among those affected. METHODS: In a descriptive cross-sectional questionnairebased survey, 293 consenting final year medical students of the University of Benin were interviewed. RESULTS: Eighty-seven (29.7%) respondents expressed difficulty in understanding statistics. Their major reasons (from multiple-response questions) were the unsatisfactory teaching of statistics, 58, (66.7%); their unseriousness about statistics, 21, (24.1%); and a perception that statistics itself was difficult, 19, (21.8%). Females were more likely than males to blame their difficulty on the unsatisfactory teaching of the subject (p=0.09; OR=0.34). Respondents whose interest in statistics ranged from “good” to “excellent” were also more likely to blame their difficulty on the unsatisfactory teaching of the subject (p=0.034; OR=0.37) but less likely to blame this on their unseriousness about the subject (p=0.00; OR=9.84) than those whose interest ranged from “fair” to “very low”. CONCLUSION: Most medical students who had difficulty in understanding statistics blamed the situation mainly on poor teaching of the subject and their self-rated unseriousness about the subject. Skilled medical statistics teachers should be engaged to teach the subject and to motivate students to learn it. Key words: Medical students, Medical education, Statistics, Gender, Nigeria.