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Preferred term

number needed to treat  

Definition

  • The number needed to treat (NNT) is defined as the number of patients that would need to be treated to prevent an adverse outcome in one additional patient compared with control treatment over a specified time period. The term was first introduced in 1988 by Andreas Laupacis, David Sackett, and Robin Roberts as the number needed to be treated but has been shortened to number needed to treat or its abbreviation NNT. In medicine and other clinical practices, the well-performed randomized clinical trial is often considered the gold standard for judging the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions. [Source: Encyclopedia of Medical Decision Making; Number Needed to Treat]

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URI

https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/number_needed_to_treat

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