RealRisk

Select one of these measures from the paper:

Relative risk

In a research study, a risk is the probability of an outcome occurring in one group (e.g. the number participants having a heart attack over the total number of participants).

A relative risk is the risk in the experimental group divided by the risk in a control or baseline group (also sometimes called the ‘Risk Ratio’).

A relative risk greater than 1 means the outcome was more common in the experimental group than the control/baseline group, and a RR less than 1 means it was less common.

Where do I find it?

Relative Risks will normally be reported in the abstract of a paper and in the results section. They generally look like this: “RR 3.6” or sometimes “aRR 3.6”. Often, several RRs will be reported for different comparisons. For RealRisk, pick the RR most worth reporting.

For more on relative risks:

Check out our Youtube explainer.

Hazard ratio

A hazard is the rate at which some outcome of interest occurs over a given period of time (e.g. heart attacks or cancer diagnoses per year).

A hazard ratio is the hazard in an experimental group (exposed to the risk factor) divided by the hazard in a control or baseline group.

A hazard ratio bigger than 1 means the outcome of interest has occurred at a higher rate in the experimental group than the control or baseline group, and a hazard ratio smaller than 1 means it’s occurred at a lower rate.

Where do I find it?

Hazard ratios will normally be reported in the abstract of a paper and/or in the results section. They generally look like this: “HR 3.6.”. Often, several HRs will be reported for different comparisons. For RealRisk, pick the HR most worth reporting.

For more on hazard ratios:

Check out our Youtube explainer.

% change

This refers to a percentage increase or decrease as in, “Women taking HRT were 80% more likely to develop breast cancer” or “People who exercise are 70% less likely to be depressed”.

For a percentage increase just type in the number e.g. 80%

To indicate a percentage decrease add a minus sign, e.g -70%

Odds ratio

In a research study, the odds of some outcome is the number of times it happened over the number of times it didn’t happen (e.g. the number of people who had heart attacks over the number who didn’t)

An odds ratio is the ratio of two odds: the odds of the outcome of interest in the experimental group divided by the odds in a control or baseline group.

An odds ratio greater than 1 means the outcome of interest (heart attacks or cancer diagnoses) was more common in the experimental group (usually the group exposed to the risk factor), and an OR below 1 means it was less common.

Where do I find it?

Odds ratios will normally be reported in the abstract of a paper and/or in the results section. They generally look like this: “OR 3.6” or sometimes “aOR 3.6”. Often, several ORs will be reported for different comparisons. For RealRisk, pick the OR most worth reporting.

For more on odds ratios:

Check out our Youtube explainer.

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Measure of change

Results summary