Risk reduction statistics

Abstract

Risk Reduction statistics are a group of statistics that are increasingly used in clinical practice as more practitioners use evidence-based practice as their approach to clinical care. Their use involves the recognition that all treatments are prescribed to reduce the patient's risk of an adverse outcome. No treatment can be guaranteed to completely cure all patients. As a result, papers presenting information on best treatment practices are increasingly presenting the rationale for treatment decisions in the context of risk reduction for individual patients and patient populations. The most commonly used risk reduction statistics are Absolute Risk Reduction and Relative Risk Reduction. Absolute risk reduction is simply the risk of an adverse outcome with no treatment less the risk of an adverse outcome with treatment. Relative risk reduction is a more complex statistic that calculates risk reduction for treated patients relative to the risk for untreated patients. Both statistics can be used to assist practitioners and patients to balance the reduction in risk for an adverse event against the cost and side-effects of the proposed treatment.