[Frequency with which semiquantitative expressions are used in Mexican medical literature].

Objective: To describe the frequency with which semiquantitative expressions are used in Mexican medical journals.

Study Design: [corrected] Comparative survey. Frame of reference. Four Mexican medical journals considered representative of the medical literature in Mexico were studied (Revista de Investigación Clínica, Archivos de Investigación Médica, Revista Médica del IMSS and the Boletín Médico del Hospital Infantil de México).

Study Units: Ten articles randomly selected and considered as original research material published in 1987 from each journal were used.

Measurements: Eight terms were identified in each text of the selected articles: almost always, very probably, probable, probably, frequent, possible, improbable and almost never.

Main Results: One hundred and fifty three expressions were identified, for a global average of 3.8 expressions per article. No statistical significant differences were found between the journals in relation to the frequency with which the expressions were used (P = 0.76). When comparing the chapters of each article, significant statistical differences were found which disappeared when the comparison was rated. In 89% of the cases, the expressions did not have a referral which therefore did not allow for their quantification. Finally, those articles defined as "clinical" had a greater frequency of semiquantitative expressions than those considered as "biomedical" (4.2 vs 1.3 on the average, respectively).

Conclusions: On the average, semiquantitative expressions are used four times per article, 75% of the times without a referral which would allow to quantify them, which could condition for a wide variety of interpretations on behalf of the readers.