What is the appropriate conclusion if a study finds an odds ratio of 1.38 for postoperative atrial fibrillation with a confidence interval that includes 1?

An odds ratio of 1.38 suggests an increased risk of postoperative atrial fibrillation associated with the condition or treatment being studied. However, because the confidence interval includes 1, this indicates that the result is not statistically significant. When a confidence interval crosses 1, it implies that the observed effect could also be due to chance, meaning there is no strong evidence to assert that there is a true difference or a causal relationship.

In this context, the term "superiority" refers to a treatment (in this case, statins) having a better outcome compared to a control, which cannot be confidently claimed here due to the uncertainty represented by the confidence interval. Therefore, while the odds ratio indicates a potential increased risk, the range of the confidence interval suggests that we cannot definitively state that statins provide a benefit or are superior to control based on this study's findings. This leads to the conclusion that superiority of statins to control could not be established.