Tag: Medical statistics

Since its formal adoption in 2019 via the ICH E9(R1) guideline addendum, the estimand framework has become central to clinical trial design. It is important to clarify that "Estimand regimen" is a misconception; an estimand is not a drug protocol but a precise statistical framework for defining the treatment effect a trial aims to measure.

The fear of 'not waking up' from surgery is a common one, yet modern statistics reveal a surprising truth: the likelihood of dying under anesthesia for a healthy individual is less than 1 in 100,000. This makes the question 'Is general anesthesia safer than driving a car?' not just rhetorical, but based on clear data that often points towards a safer outcome during a controlled medical procedure than a trip on the road.

According to the CDC, motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death in the United States, killing almost 44,000 people in 2022. Despite this daily risk, many people experience anxiety about undergoing anesthesia for surgery, prompting the question: is anesthesia safer than driving?.

According to a 2017 appraisal of medical literature, a considerable proportion of studies, particularly meta-analyses, applied methods that are not in line with basic methodological recommendations when reporting Number Needed to Treat (NNT), potentially leading to misinterpretation. This critical metric provides a concrete measure of a treatment's benefit in clinical practice.