Klarinet Archive - Posting 000637.txt from 1999/12

From: Frank Galiani <fgaliani@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: Cause for Concern
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 22:01:06 -0500

Well said Don, both in this comment and in your email to BMJ. I've never
seen a published paper in a professional journal with fewer or more poorly
designed controls. Frank P. Galiani

Don Longacre wrote:

> Dr Karius comments on:
> >> Unsafe sax: cohort study of the impact of too much sax on the
> >> mortality of famous jazz musicians
> >> Sanjay Kinra and Mona Okasha
> >> BMJ 1999;319 1612-1613
> >> http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/319/7225/1612
>
> Since Michael brought this to our attention on the 18th along with
> Reuters spin and inaccuracies about which facial orifice delivers
> air into the mouthpiece, I too read the Kinra and Okasha report in
> eBMJ. I agree with you entirely. Their hypothesis was flawed in
> that the very subjective "lifestyle" factor was not applicable in
> their statistical analyses. I believe they rather naively overlooked
> the collective debilitating effects existing in the demi-world of
> the jazz saxophonist, especially those whose careers brought them
> into prominence. Without detailing it, I know of no statistical
> treatment that could embrace the experiment design of Kinra and Okasha
> for these "environmental" variables. Poor nutrition, drugs, alcohol
> and a host of factors leading to short life span,in my opinion, over-
> whelmed the trivial notion of circular breathing as a causal agent.
> Basically, the Kinra and Okasha work was a statistical exercise. They
> had no relating pathology or clinical support data. Frankly, I am
> quite suprised the prestigious British Medical Journal would consider
> this paper for publication. Customarily, peer review would have caught
> this stuff early on. My email to eBMJ is published on their site at
> < http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/319/7225/1612> reviewing somewhat
> more politely some of the points above. They were kind enough to do that
> in the spirit of science.
>
> Cordially,
>
> Donald Longacre
>
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