Using the number needed to treat in clinical practice
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-1-2004
Abstract
Weeks DL, Noteboom JT. Using the number needed to treat in clinical practice. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2004;85:1729-31. The number needed to treat (NNT) is gaining attention as a method of reporting the results of clinical trails with dichotomous outcome measures. The NNT is defined as the number of patients who would need to be treated, on average, with a specific intervention to prevent 1 additional bad outcome or to achieve 1 desirable outcome in a given time period. Because it reports outcomes in terms of patient numbers, it is extremely useful to clinicians for making decisions about the effort expended with a particular intervention to achieve a single positive outcome. This special communication describes the NNT statistic and its utility for choosing clinical interventions. © 2004 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
Recommended Citation
Weeks, Douglas L. and Noteboom, J. Timothy, "Using the number needed to treat in clinical practice" (2004). Regis University Faculty Publications (comprehensive list). 1154.
https://epublications.regis.edu/facultypubs/1154