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3 Interpreting the results

When examining the results of a trial, it is necessary to consider more than statistical significance. Not all statistically significant results are clinically important. Similarly, failure to find a statistically significant difference does not necessarily rule out that there is a clinically important difference. In addition, when making judgements of clinical relevance, it is necessary to examine not only the relative effect of treatment, but also the absolute effect (see here for further discussion).

In terms of effectively communicating results to patients, a review (Zipkin DA et al.) found that:
– Any type of difference (absolute or relative) is understood more accurately when baseline risk is provided;
Absolute differences are understood more accurately than relative differences;
Numbers needed to treat (NNTs) are often misunderstood and are inferior to reporting absolute differences;
– Addition of visual displays to numerical information increase understanding.

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