%0 Journal Article
%T The World¡¯s under Five Population¡ªDo We Really Have Good Data of  Its Size in Medicine?
%A Gregor Pollach
%J International Journal of Clinical Medicine
%P 599-604
%@ 2158-2882
%D 2014
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/ijcm.2014.510081
%X <p style=\"text-align:justify;\">
	<span style=\"font-size:10.0pt;font-family:;\" \"=\"\"><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">Background:
¡°Forensic auditing¡± opened a new way to monitor demographic data. Benford¡¯s law
explains the frequency distribution in naturally occurring data sets. We
applied this law to data of the world¡¯s population under five. This number is
extremely important in paediatrics and public health. Methodology: Benford¡¯s
law states that the probability of a leading occurring number d (d </span><span style=\"color:#000000;\"><span style=\"color:#000000;line-height:normal;white-space:normal;\">¡Ê</span></span><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\"> {1,¡¤¡¤¡¤,9})
can be calculated through the following equation: P(d) = log</span><sub><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">10</span></sub><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">(d +
1) ¨C log</span><sub><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">10</span></sub><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">(d) = log</span><sub><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">10</span></sub><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">(1 + 1/d). We compared the observed
and expected values. To examine statistical significance, we used the
Chi-square test. Results: Chi-square for the population younger than five years
is 22.74 for 2010, 22.97 for 2011 and 11.35 for 2012. For all years combined it
is 47.6. Because chi-square was higher than the cut-off value, it must lead to
the rejection the null hypothesis. In 2014 chi-square is 11.73 for the first
digit. Chi-square being lower than the cut off value of the null hypothesis is
accepted. The acceptance of the null hypothesis for 2014 means that the numbers
follow Benford¡¯s law for 2014. The rejection of the null hypothesis means that
the numbers observed in the publication are not following Benford¡¯s law. The
explanations can be reached from operational discrepancies to psychological
challenges or conscious manipulation in the struggle for international funding.
Conclusion: The knowledge of this mathematical relation is not used widely in
medicine, despite being a valuable and quick tool to identify datasets needing
closer scrutiny.</span></span> 
</p>
%K Benford¡¯s Law
%K Forensic Auditing
%K Under Five
%K Struggle for Funding
%K Fraud
%K First-Digit Law
%K A New Tool in Medicine
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=46219