Reporting the findings: Absolute vs relative risk

Format: Websites
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Language/s: English
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Resource Link: Visit the Website
Short Description:

Absolute Differences between the effects of two treatments matter more to most people than Relative Differences.

Key Concepts addressed:

Details

Why you should always use absolute risk numbers:

“New drug cuts heart attack risk in half.”

Sounds like a great drug, huh?

Yet it sounds significantly less great when you realize we’re actually talking about a 2% risk dropping to a 1% risk. The risk halved, but in a far less impressive fashion.

That’s why absolute numbers matter: They provide readers with enough information to determine the true size of the benefit. In more detail: