Measurement in Medicine

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MEASUREMENT IN MEDICINE


If you were to ask the average person on the street what is measurement, their instant thought would be distance or length – eg, centimetre, metre, kilometre. If you were to ask what profession uses measurement, the first response would be tradespeople such as builders. It may take them a while before they even start to think of Medical Professions. However, whenever you go to the doctor for a check-up they check your blood pressure, take your temperature, and monitor your weight (MOOC Blog, 2021). If necessary, they take bloods and complete further analysis to ensure you have the right balance of blood cells, cholesterol, liver function, etc. Medicine and math go hand in hand. The medical profession (and your health) depends on the use and accuracy of mathematical measurements.

Lassere (2006) states that measurement is fundamental to science and medicine measurement underpins most clinical decisions. Without the ability to measure, you are unable to diagnose conditions, make baselines and benchmarks, evaluate progress, and make informed decisions. In fact, measurement is integral in disease definition for the large majority of medical conditions. For instance, diabetes would not be able to be diagnosed without the ability to measure urinary and blood glucose levels (Lassere, 2006)


Measurement in medicine can measure anatomy and physiology. It can be used to determine pharmacology. It can also be used to place the general health and well-being of an individual. The measurement can be qualitative such as “well”, or “unwell”, or quantitative such as weight, height, or thickness (Cochran, 1961). Without the use of measurement within medical sciences, we would not have the understanding we currently have in regard to health care.

 


In the next blog we will look further into the history of measurement in medicine, going all the way back to the Godfather of Evidence-based Medicine.

 

 

References

Cochran, W. G. (1961). The Role of Mathematics in the Medical Sciences. New England Journal of Medicine, 265(4), 176–176. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejm196107272650406

Lassere, M. N. (2006). A users guide to measurement in medicine. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, 14, 10–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joca.2006.02.021

M’Kendrick, A. G. (1925). Applications of Mathematics to Medical Problems. Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society, 44, 98–130. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0013091500034428

MOOC Blog. (2021). Math in Medicine: How Is Math Used in Healthcare? Www.mooc.org. https://www.mooc.org/blog/math-in-medicine-how-is-math-used-in-healthcare#:~:text=Some%20examples%20of%20when%20doctors%20might%20use%20math

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