Ambiguous nature of the word "risk" (September 13, 2006). Category: Critical appraisal

A recent discussion on the Evidence-Based Health email discussion group focused on the word "risk". It means harmful event (risks versus benefits) as well as a probability (risk of heart attack). So when you are defining evidence based medicine, it worthwhile to describe how it allows you to assess the benefits and harms of a new therapy and the probability of those benefits and harms. That avoids some confusion over the interpretation of the word "risk".

This web page was written by Steve Simon, edited by Steve Simon, and was last modified on 09/24/2007.