Wednesday, February 22, 2012

guilty pleasures


i have just conducted a totally non-randomized, unblinded, no placebo-controlled study and and can confidently convey to you the astounding results:


context:  firm evidence is lacking regarding which magazines are most popular in patient exam rooms.

design:  observational trial in which i move the star magazine somewhere deep in the pile and wait for it to resurface

setting:  my exam room

participants:  unknowing patients

outcome measures:  number of visits until star magazine resurfaces at the top of the pile

results:  based on my meticulous observation, it takes on average 1.75 patient visits for star magazine to resurface.

conclusions:  we love our celebrity trash

i am submitting this to JAMA

3 comments:

  1. I always have my e-reader with me wherever I am. However, when in the supermarket standing in line, I'm always checking out the tabloids but I never purchase any.

    Several years ago, I was on an airplane and my seat mate was reading the Enquirer (or one of those tabloids). His wife was sitting on the window seat, he in the middle and me on the isle. The man and his wife were reading the tabloid and I was reading along with them though trying not to seem like I was. I guess I wasn't that discreet because when they finished, he turned to me with a smile and handed me the magazine to read on my own. Boy was I embarrassed.

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  2. My internist only has WebMD magazines in his office. I wonder how many people go in and ask him about something that they read there.

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  3. I really liked that tidewater trader paper. You should keep more papers in

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