Figure 5. Comparison of Tabular Data and Run Chart From the University of California, San Diego Medical Center (Text Description)

Figure 5 demonstrates that graphs do a much better job than lists of numbers in showing trends over time. The graph shows the trend that occurred from January 2005 to June 2006. The higher percentage of patients that received appropriate prophylaxis to prevent hospital-acquired venous thromboembolism, the fewer cases there were per 1,000 patient days. The trend for cases per 1,000 patient-days peak at 1.4 in August 2005 and ebb at 0.0 in June 2006. Patient prophylaxis rates are at 50 percent in January 2005 and are at 80 percent in June 2006.

The data chart is a list of numbers that also show this data, but the trend lines are not available.

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