Statistics and damn lies
CMAJ 1998;159:1548
© 1998 Canadian Medical Association
Number of reported poison exposures resulting from poinsettia plants in the US in 1995: 2798
Number of poison exposures from holly: 2651
Number of fat and jolly Englishmen the country's main supplier of shopping mall Santa Clauses was short 6 weeks
before Christmas, allegedly because of more healthy eating in the UK: 330 days' worth
Proportion of Canadians who know Saskatchewan was the first province to introduce medicare: 25%
Proportion who know the Montreal Canadiens have won the most Stanley Cups: 75%
Number of cigarettes smoked by Canadian teens each year: 1 billion
Activities that are equal in risk to smoking 100 cigarettes: driving a car for 6000 km or a motorbike for 350 hours, drinking 40 bottles of wine, eating 80 jars of peanut butter, rock climbing for 2 hours or whitewater canoeing for 2 hours
Increase in the sales of St. John's wort in Canada from July 1997 to June 1998: more than 700%
Proportion of Canadians who used an alternative medicine or therapy in 1997: 42%
Proportion that has used complementary remedies such as vitamins, mineral supplements, and homeopathic or herbal remedies in the last 6 months: 59%
Provinces where Canadians are most active: Alberta and British Columbia
Provinces with the most couch potatoes: Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Newfoundland and New Brunswick
Day of the week most Canadians die: Saturday
Day of the week fewest Canadians die: Thursday
Number of hours a physician spent getting haircuts over an 18-month period: 41 hours, 24 minutes
Number of hours married female physicians practise per week: 46.3
Number of hours single female doctors practise: 50.4
Number of hours married male physicians practise: 55.8
Number of hours single male physicians practise: 53.8
Proportion of Canadian female physicians married to another physician: 36%
Number of scientific articles published since 1970 that were subsequently retracted but continue to be cited in support of scientific concepts: 82
Number of times they have been cited: 733
Most expensive sports-related injury treated in US emergency rooms in 1995: cycling (US$4.29 billion)
Number of people worldwide older than 65 years: 300 million
Number older than 65 by 2025: 800 million
Proportion of Canadians aged 65 and over in 1971: 8.1%
In 1996: 12.2%
Projected for 2016: 17.8%
Global life expectancy in 1955: 45 years
In 1996: 68 years
Proportion of Canadian women (under age 50) who are sterilized: 31%
Proportion of men: 13%
Proportion in other parts of the developed world: 8% of women, 5% of men
Proportion of women with breast implants who have attended college: 70%
Proportion of Canadians who believe possession of a little marijuana should not be a criminal offence: 76%
Proportion in 1985: 60%
Percentage of the audience attending a Grateful Dead concert who were using drugs: 55%
Who were using alcohol: 86%
These data and related factoids were compiled by Lynda Buske, the CMA's Chief, Physician Resources Information Planning, and Deborah Scott-Douglas, the CMA's Manager, Information Services.
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