II. Definition

  1. Relative Risk
    1. Ratio of probability of an event in an exposed group to that in an unexposed group

III. Evaluation

  1. Calculation
    1. Relative Risk = P(disease I exposure) / P(disease I No exposure)
  2. Example
    1. Exposure to Substance X
      1. Disease Y Contracted in 25
      2. Disease Y NOT Contracted in 75
    2. NO Exposure to Substance X
      1. Disease Y Contracted in 10
      2. Disease Y NOT Contracted in 190
    3. Probabilities
      1. P(disease | exposure) = 25 / (25 + 75) = 0.25
      2. P(disease | No exposure) = 10 / (10 + 190) = 0.05
    4. Conclusion
      1. Relative Risk = P(disease I exposure) / P(disease I No exposure) = 0.25/0.05 = 5
      2. Patients exposed to Substance X are 5 times more likely to develop disease Y

V. References

  1. Desai (2014) Clinical Decision Making, AMIA’s CIBRC Online Course

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