Treatment effect

Onto the most important parts of therapeutic papers, what difference does the treatment make?

There are several ways to describe the treatment effect, several of which can be used, consciously or not, to lead to a description that overstates the effect. In this section we run through how the effect can and should be described to give an accurate impression of its effect.

The authors should not only state whether the treatment was better but should try to quantify the extent of the treatment (not just if effective but how effective e.g. if an analgesic-not just if it helps with pain but to what extent it helps)

This podcast covers

• Relative risk reduction (RRR)
• Absolute risk reduction (ARR)
• NNT

Once you’ve listened help consolidate the topics covered with the questions below.