ArticleBMC medical research methodology2002
Pooling data for number needed to treat: no problems for apples.
Article in BMC medical research methodology, 2002. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Does contemporary ART lead to pre-eclampsia? A cohort study and meta-analysis.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2021Pooled it
- Sequential versus standard triple first-line therapy for Helicobacter pylori eradication.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- Massage with or without aromatherapy for symptom relief in people with cancer.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- Tapentadol for chronic musculoskeletal pain in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Statins and Cardiovascular Primary Prevention in CKD: A Meta-Analysis.Clinical journal of the American Society of Nephrology : CJASN · 2015 · on this mapPooled it
- Optimum duration of regimens for Helicobacter pylori eradication.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2013Pooled it
- Do placebo response rates from cessation trials inform on strength of addictions?International journal of environmental research and public health · 2012Pooled it
- Virtual reality technology for pain management in advanced cancer.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Article
- Designing and validating a clinical decision support algorithm for diabetic nephroprotection in older patients.BMJ health & care informatics · 2024Article
- Sequential versus Standard Triple Therapy for First-LineAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Number Needed to Treat in Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Trials.Neurology and therapy · 2017Review
- Number needed to treat (NNT) in clinical literature: an appraisal.BMC medicine · 2017Article
- [Patient centeredness and decision-making in localised prostate cancer: possible fields of health services research in urology].Der Urologe. Ausg. A · 2011Article
- What do we know about communicating risk? A brief review and suggestion for contextualising serious, but rare, risk, and the example of cox-2 selective and non-selective NSAIDs.Arthritis research & therapy · 2008Review
- An evidence-based algorithm for the treatment of neuropathic pain.MedGenMed : Medscape general medicine · 2007Review
- Meta-analysis, Simpson's paradox, and the number needed to treat.BMC medical research methodology · 2002Article
- Simpson's paradox and calculation of number needed to treat from meta-analysis.BMC medical research methodology · 2002Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo consider the problem of the calculation of number needed to treat (NNT) derived from risk difference, odds ratio, and raw pooled events shown to give different results using data from a review of nursing interventions for smoking cessation. DISCUSSION: A review of nursing interventions for smoking cessation from the Cochrane Library provided different values for NNT depending on how NNTs were calculated. The Cochrane review was evaluated for clinical heterogeneity using L'Abbé plot and subsequent analysis by secondary and primary care settings.Three studies in primary care had low (4%) baseline quit rates, and nursing interventions were without effect. Seven trials in hospital settings with patients after cardiac surgery, or heart attack, or even with cancer, had high baseline quit rates (25%). Nursing intervention to stop smoking in the hospital setting was effective, with an NNT of 14 (95% confidence interval 9 to 26). The assumptions involved in using risk difference and odds ratio scales for calculating NNTs are discussed. SUMMARY: Clinical common sense and concentration on raw data helps to detect clinical heterogeneity. Once robust statistical tests have told us that an intervention works, we then need to know how well it works. The number needed to treat or harm is just one way of showing that, and when used sensibly can be a useful tool.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.