CI in medical terminology has multiple meanings, depending on the context. It's not a single, universally understood abbreviation.
1. Confidence Interval
In research and statistics, CI commonly stands for confidence interval. This is a range of values that likely contains the true value of a population parameter. For example, a study might report a 95% confidence interval for average weight of 53 to 71 kg. This means researchers are 95% confident that the true average weight of the population falls within this range. Source: Understanding statistics: risk | BMJ Best Practice
2. Cardiac Index
CI can also represent cardiac index, a measure of the heart's efficiency in pumping blood. It's calculated by dividing the cardiac output (amount of blood pumped per minute) by the body surface area. A low cardiac index may indicate heart problems. Source: List of medical abbreviations: C - Wikipedia
3. Crisis Intervention
In emergency medical services (EMS), CI can refer to crisis intervention, a type of intervention for individuals experiencing a mental health emergency. This often involves assessment and stabilization before further treatment. Source: dumb question... what is a CI? : r/ems
4. Curie (in radiation measurement)
In radiation, CI stands for Curie, a unit of radioactivity. One curie (Ci) is equal to 3.7 x 1010 disintegrations per second. While less common in everyday medical practice, this is an important unit in nuclear medicine and radiation oncology. Source: Curie (Ci) | NRC.gov
Therefore, the meaning of CI depends heavily on the medical context. Always consider the surrounding information to determine the correct interpretation.
