From Reason:
Epidemiology Makes Astrology Look Respectable
Earlier this year, a review article in the Annals of Internal Medicine reported that among other bad outcomes found in a bunch of mostly case-control studies that sitting all day at a desk job increased your risk of dying with a hazard ratio of 1.22 and 95 percent confidence interval of 1.090 to 1.410. Time to get a desk with an attached treadmill. Well, maybe not.
Last week, a new study in the International Journal of Epidemiology that took into account the sitting habits of a cohort of British subjects for 16 years reported:
Sitting time was not associated with all-cause mortality risk. The results of this study suggest that policy makers and clinicians should be cautious about placing emphasis on sitting behaviour as a risk factor for mortality that is distinct from the effect of physical activity. More.
Actually, a great deal of published research doesn’t show what it claims to, resulting in the current controversy over the value of peer review. To keep up. See Retraction Watch.
Note: But then, evolutionary psychology can always be used to excuse errors in science.
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