yes rita, both jonathan kay and tim reynolds provided good definitions, much
better than my own proposed definition of NNT
however, my primary question remains unanswered; it was:
one of you wrote, a few days ago, that the lack of evidence for the effect
of an intervention is not equal to evidence that the intervention has no
effect
isn't this kind of argument a little bit fallacious? wouldn't some patients,
health-professionals, or tax-payers, find it hard to swallow that
interventions with no proven benefits (but with proven costs or side
effects) are recommended by our profession?
by the way, Rita, this argument which seems fallacious to me, was one of
those we used in the paper we published in clinical chemistry in 2004
(evidence-based guidelines in laboratory medicine)
Dr Joseph Watine, hôpital de Rodez, France
>From: Andrea Horvath <[log in to unmask]>
>To: Joseph WATINE <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: fallacious argument?
>Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2006 12:47:23 +0200
>
>Joseph, you need to read the definitions....but I see J Kay pointed you to
>that. Rita
>
>At 14:01 2006.10.11. +0000, you wrote:
>>it is certainly true that many patients are given treatment without clear
>>evidence that it is useful for them, but my understanding of NNT differs
>>from yours
>>
>>doesn't a NNT of 200 mean that it is necessary to have 200 patients for
>>the effect of the therapy to be statistically significant?
>From: Andrea Horvath <[log in to unmask]>
>To: Joseph WATINE <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: fallacious argument?
>Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2006 12:47:23 +0200
>
>Joseph, you need to read the definitions....but I see J Kay pointed you to
>that. Rita
>
>At 14:01 2006.10.11. +0000, you wrote:
>>it is certainly true that many patients are given treatment without clear
>>evidence that it is useful for them, but my understanding of NNT differs
>>from yours
>>
>>doesn't a NNT of 200 mean that it is necessary to have 200 patients for
>>the effect of the therapy to be statistically significant?
_________________________________________________________________
Retrouvez tout en un clin d'oeil avec Live Search !
http://www.live.com/?mkt=fr-fr
------ACB discussion List Information--------
This is an open discussion list for the academic and clinical
community working in clinical biochemistry.
Please note, archived messages are public and can be viewed
via the internet. Views expressed are those of the individual and
they are responsible for all message content.
ACB Web Site
http://www.acb.org.uk
List Archives
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/ACB-CLIN-CHEM-GEN.html
List Instructions (How to leave etc.)
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/
|