Talking about Treatment: The Language of Populations and the Language of Individuals
Authors: John F. Steiner
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1999)

Medical Writings: Lingua Medica6 April 1999Talking about Treatment: The Language of Populations and the Language of IndividualsJohn F. Steiner, MD, MPHJohn F. Steiner, MD, MPHUniversity of Colorado Health Sciences Center; Denver, CO 80262 (Steiner)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-130-7-199904060-00029 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail In recent years, clinical decisions about treatment have been increasingly guided by the findings of randomized clinical trials. These trials use the strongest type of study design for treatment assessment. They offer the best approach to reducing bias and balancing the distribution of known or unknown patient attributes that could threaten the internal validity of the study (1). The quantitative measures of risk reduction used to report randomized clinical trials describe the collective experience of the participants in the trial. To apply the results of such trials in clinical practice, physicians must translate the concepts and measures used to describe ...References1. Sackett DL. Readers' guide for therapy: was the assignment of patients to treatments randomized? [Editorial] ACP J Club. 1991 May-June; 114:A12. Google Scholar2. Prevention of stroke by antihypertensive drug treatment in older persons with isolated systolic hypertension. Final results of the Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly Program (SHEP). SHEP Cooperative Research Group. JAMA. 1991; 265:3255-64. Google Scholar3. Feinstein AR. Invidious comparisons and unmet clinical challenges [Editorial]. Am J Med. 1992;92:117-20. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Berwick DM, Fineberg HV, Weinstein MC. When doctors meet numbers. Am J Med. 1981;71:991-8. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. 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Words as scalpels: transmitting evidence in the clinical dialogue. Ann Intern Med. 1980;92:837-42. LinkGoogle Scholar35. Cassell EJ. Doctoring: The Nature of Primary Care Medicine. New York: Oxford Univ Pr; 1997. Google Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: John F. Steiner, MD, MPHAffiliations: University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; Denver, CO 80262 (Steiner)Acknowledgments: The author thanks Ralph Gonzales, MD MSPH; Thomas MacKenzie, MD, MSPH; and Robert Anderson, MD, for helpful suggestions.Corresponding Author: John F. Steiner, MD, MPH, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Box B-180, 4200 East Ninth Avenue, Denver, CO 80262. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoFlock Worker's Lung William S. Beckett Probability at the Bedside: The Knowing of Chances or the Chances of Knowing? Steven N. Goodman Talking about Treatment Richard Saitz Talking about Treatment Kenneth M. 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