Developed by epidemiologists in 1988, the NNT was heralded as a new and objective tool to help patients make informed decisions.
The NNT is intuitive: To a savvy, healthy person with high cholesterol that didn't decrease with diet and exercise, a doctor could say, "A statin might help you, or it might not.
Out of every 50 people who take them, one avoids getting a heart attack. On the other hand, that means 49 out of 50 people don't get much benefit."
So, of all those millions of munchers of cholesterol lowering drugs out there, only 1 out of 50, in a five year period, is likely to benefit.
The other 49 out of 50 are all losers who take their meds for no benefit!
Go here for the full explanation.
1 comment:
Careful now, we don't want people thinking critically about their health or anything like that. Heaven forbid that we teach them an informative and objective method of assessing risk.
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