Skip to main content

Table 1 Different ways to describe 'risk'

From: Clinical review: How is risk defined in high-risk surgical patient management?

Placebo arm (n = 1000)

Treatment arm (n = 1000)

Relative risk reduction

Absolute risk reduction

Number needed to treat

200

100

50

10

10

20

10

50

1

100

2

1

50

0.1

1000

  1. In this example, a treatment trial involving 2000 patients, 'relative risk reduction' remains the same while 'absolute risk reduction' and 'number needed to treat' show differences in the appreciation of risk as the success of the treatment is modelled to change.
Back to article page

Critical Care

ISSN: 1364-8535