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Operating room temperature

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Operating room temperature

by charu_mahajan » Wed Feb 06, 2013 11:49 am
It is well established that surgical patients whose core body temperatures fall below 36 C (around 96.8 F) during surgery have much higher mortality rates than surgical patients whose core body temperatures remain above 36 C. Consequently, mortality rates could be significantly reduced during surgery if operating rooms were kept significantly warmer than they are presently kept under standard hospital guidelines, which call for temperatures of 21 C (around 69.8 F).

Which of the following, if true, argues most strongly against the view that surgical mortality rates could be reduced by raising operating room temperatures?

A. Surgical mortality rates are slightly higher during summer months than during winter months.
B. Delivery rooms tend to be kept at slightly higher temperatures than other operating rooms (around 24 C or 75.2 F) because premature babies are especially vulnerable to hypothermia.
C. It is more costly to maintain surgical equipment at temperatures above 21 C.
D. Nurses and medical technicians prefer working in room temperatures less than 24 C.
E. Manual dexterity and mental alertness tend to decline as the temperature rises above 21 C and more significantly so at temperatures above 24 C.

Source: Kaplan GMAT
Category: Weaken
Level: 500-600 (IMO)
Why I posted this: I got this one right. It's for all BTG friends to practice.
OA : E
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by Sam_hellboy » Thu Feb 07, 2013 2:26 am
got it correct.i was stuck in between the options C & E and ticked E.

Could u pls explain the reason for the same?

Thanks!!
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by charu_mahajan » Thu Feb 07, 2013 6:39 am
Official Explanation -

If, as choice (E) asserts, manual dexterity and mental alertness go down as the operating room temperature is raised above 21 C, this fact would argue most strongly against the stated view that surgical mortality rates could be significantly reduced during surgery if operating rooms were kept significantly warmer. Few activities require more mental alertness and manual dexterity than performing surgery, so any potential gains that might be made by keeping patients warmer might be offset by the increased likelihood of surgical error.

None of the other choices casts doubt on the view expressed in the argument. Choice (A) presents irrelevant information; we know nothing about why surgical mortality rates are slightly higher in the summer, or even whether operating rooms are kept warmer or colder in the summer versus the winter. Choice (B) would, if anything, slightly strengthen the author's claim, because it suggests that some patients are very susceptible to cold, implying that warmer operating rooms would make sense. Choice (C) is completely beyond the scope of the argument - cost is not under consideration here. Choice (D) is also beyond the scope of the argument - the concern here is with saving lives, not catering to the preferences of nurses and medical technicians.
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by Brian@VeritasPrep » Wed Feb 13, 2013 12:20 pm
For the C vs. E crowd...this one is a little interesting in that I'd bet E makes a logical leap a little beyond what the GMAT would ask of you. As it's written, E requires you to connect "manual dexterity and mental alertness" to "the effectiveness of a surgeon", and so if you weren't sold on E here I don't fully blame you.

But you can definitely learn from this one in that C has kind of a classic GMAT device in it - since the conclusion is all about "mortality rates could be reduced", "cost" is a total red herring. The conclusion only deals with the effectiveness of the surgery and the ability to minimize deaths, so cost is a total nonissue. And in many questions that involve plans and strategies, cost is that red herring - if the goal is to accomplish a particular objective and the weaken answer is "the plan would cost too much", you have to find a connection to cost in the argument or it's wrong. So much like your mind should sharpen around words like "all", "none" and "only" in CR, anything related to "cost" in an answer choice should get you thinking that you need to find a connection to cost or else it's irrelevant.
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by ceilidh.erickson » Thu Feb 14, 2013 10:12 am
Whenever you're asked to weaken a conclusion, you want to identify any logical gaps between the premises and the conclusion.

Premise:
- patients with body temperatures below 36C have a higher mortality rate than patients with body temps above 36C

Conclusion:
- mortality rates will be reduced if operating rooms are kept warmer

Logical Gaps:
- Body temp = room temp? Will changing the temperature of the room necessarily change the temperature of the bodies?
- Body temp causes mortality rate? Is there something else going on with these people that could lower body temperature and mortality rate? If so, raising body temp might not solve that underlying problem.
- Other effects of temperature on mortality? Can raising the room temperature have some other negative consequences?

I agree with most of the assessments of the answer choices above, but just to go through all of them...

A. Summer v. winter doesn't necessarily affect the temperature of the room.

B. One specific case (delivery rooms) won't speak to all cases (all operating rooms). Hypothermia is not the same thing as mortality rate. If anything, this one would seem to strengthen a little bit, by suggesting that higher temps are good.

C. Cost is not relevant to mortality rate (unless other information were added, such as "fewer patients will get necessary surgeries" or something).

D. Beware of any answer choices that talk about people's feelings or preferences. It usually won't be very relevant to outcomes. Do their preferences affect mortality rate? No.

E. Other commenters are right - this one requires a leap from "dexterity and alertness go down" to "surgeons are less competent." It's not a great answer choice. But correct answers on WEAKEN questions sometimes will require you to make a bit of a leap (unlike assumption questions, which should stick very close to scope). It's the least-bad answer choice, so we have to pick it.
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