How relevant are statistics?

The debate about statistics recently came up in the Macmillan online community. It prompted me to consider how I feel about them as someone with leukaemia; now that they have become an indicator to my future rather than just numbers to me. I started to think about why they are bandied around so much; I mean, there seem to be statistics for anything and everything, but are they really worth taking much notice of?

In my case, the statistics for the type of leukaemia I have are pretty frightening. But once I'd come to terms with this, they gave me perspective, cleared my mind and enabled me to focus on what was important. I felt better knowing exactly what I was dealing with. I certainly wasn't going to get anymore nasty shocks, as I had with my original diagnosis; I'd been rushed into hospital one night thinking I had some sort of nasty infection, then 24 hours later I was starting chemotherapy, and told I wouldn't be going home for weeks – completely out of the blue.

I can only speak from my own experience, and I have given it a lot of thought since my diagnosis two years ago. Mainly I think it's because we need perspective in order to deal with or process what has happened to us. When you are given the devastating news that you have a severe life-limiting disease, your mind goes into a spin, whirling with so many thoughts. It is a confusing and unsettling time. Statistics are one way of making sense of it all and getting to grips with what you are dealing with. I can imagine this is the same for those with other life-limiting illnesses, or who suffer serious injuries. 

As far as my experience is concerned, I've come to the conclusion that my hunt for information was my way of looking at my condition directly in the eye, and fighting back. I wasn't going to be naive and let it get the better of me.

I had been powerless when the cancer came and overtook my body; powerless as to whether my treatment would be successful, and powerless in the decisions my medical team made about my health. So doing this was my way of getting some of this power back and showing it I would not let it hide anything from me.  Though statistics aren't the only information that helped me, they were certainly part of it.

Whenever I see statistics about AML (the kind of leukaemia I have), my mood swings from that awful sinking feeling to telling myself that we are all individual, and that just because the statistical outlook is poor doesn't necessarily mean the same for my future. I focus on what is happening with me now; I am in remission, and that's all that matters. I feel empowered now that I know the worst possible scenario; there are no shocks hidden away, and 'it' doesn't know more than me. Simply, statistics aren't the be-all and end-all, and they can be interpreted as good or bad depending on your perspective.

There is a famous quote about statistics popularised by Mark Twain that goes: "There are three kinds of lies; lies, damned lies and statistics"

Statistics can be misused like anything, to prove, disprove or back up a weak argument, but this doesn't mean they are irrelevant. Mistakes do happen, but that doesn't mean that the whole concept of them is wrong; in every profession mistakes are made, but it doesn't mean we abolish the profession. For example, there are miscarriages in justice, yet as a whole we still put our faith in the system.

Official statistics are regulated, and their data should be collected from trustworthy sources in order to draw reliable conclusions and the study itself designed in a way that is relevant. Then the data has to be correctly analysed and checked.

Our government and other official bodies use statistics in debates and important decision-making regarding such important issues as our economy, housing, employment, education and the NHS. The NHS in particular use statistics to aid them in decision-making regarding treatments and procedures, as they give an indication as to whether these things are viable and reliably working. They are essential in the development and study of clinical trials, and development of treatments for diseases such as cancer. Cancer charities use them to monitor incidents of the disease, trends and improvements in treatments. As a society, statistics help us to understand behaviours and the world we live in, and give us perspective on what affects us.

Personally, I think the key is making sure the statistics we use are from a reliable source, and to remember they are only part of the picture. As long as they are relevant, valid and justified they can be very helpful. As I said before, they helped me form a clear picture in my mind of my leukaemia, and without them I would have felt like I was fighting in the dark!