How are the confidence intervals for the proportion of resistance isolates calculated and how are they interpreted?
This report used modern statistical routines to generate the best possible confidence limits for the data collected. These are termed ‘exact binomial confidence limits’. Essentially the confidence intervals are a way of accounting for variability arising from sampling. It is not possible to measure the resistance of all bacteria in the whole population. This system samples bacteria for assessment. The extent that the proportion resistant in the sample measured reflects the proportion resistant in the population is assessed with confidence intervals. In the 95 per cent confidence limits reported in this study, the true level of resistance in the population has a 95 per cent probability of being somewhere between the lower and upper confidence limit. 11. How does antimicrobial resistance develop? Antimicrobial resistance results from the exposure of microorganisms to antimicrobial drugs. Use of antimicrobial drugs allows the small number of organisms that are resistant to that drug (thro