In a community survey, systolic blood pressure values are: 110, 115, 120, 122, 125, 300 mmHg. Which measure of central tendency would BEST represent this dataset?

• A Mean
• B Mode
• C Geometric mean
• D Median ✓

Explanation

The dataset contains an extreme outlier (300 mmHg), making the mean unrepresentative (mean = 165.3 mmHg). The median — the middle value when data are ordered — is not affected by outliers; here the median is (122+125)/2 = 123.5 mmHg, which accurately represents the central tendency. Mode is not useful here as values do not repeat.

Reference: Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, 27th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

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