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Topic summary

How to read a forest plot, properly, from scratch

This is a generated summary. It shows the 9 most-liked posts from a topic of 82, in their original order, with the accepted answer included where one exists. It is a reading aid and it will miss nuance — the full topic is the record.
TK
t.karlsenTL2 Solution23 Jul 2025#8

Absolute numbers, not just relative: a 30% relative reduction tells you the ratio but not the practical magnitude. The event rate in each arm and the difference between them tells you how many people benefit.

On balance I think that is right, and I would not bet much on it.

22 likes 12mo
DF
d.fontaineTL27 Aug 2025#13

Risk of bias: structured appraisal of internal validity. Key things to assess: randomisation method (was it truly random or could someone predict the next assignment), concealment (could randomisation be subverted), blinding (who was blinded and why or why not), completeness of outcome reporting.

27 likes 12mo
PO
p.ostergaardTL227 Aug 2025#20
y.mensah, post #5: A treatment-policy estimand asks what happens to people assigned to a strategy, including those who abandon it. A hypothetical estimand asks what would have happened had everyone continued. Both are legitimate and they give different numbers. Go to post

Answering the question post #18 raises rather than the one it answers.

Absolute numbers, not just relative: a 30% relative reduction tells you the ratio but not the practical magnitude. The event rate in each arm and the difference between them tells you how many people benefit.

Not the answer, but possibly the question that gets there.

26 likes in reply to #5 11mo
P
preregisteredTL3Research methods11 Sep 2025#26

Absolute and relative effects answer different questions. Write down the event rate in each arm and the difference between them; everything quotable is derived from those two numbers.

A guess, clearly labelled as one.

30 likes 11mo
VB
v.baptistaTL227 Sep 2025#33

That is a fair summary of where the discussion has got to.

30 likes 10mo
GH
g.haalandTL3Regular28 Oct 2025#47

A treatment-policy estimand asks what happens to people assigned to a strategy, including those who abandon it. A hypothetical estimand asks what would have happened had everyone continued. Both are legitimate and they give different numbers.

Same conclusion as the reply above, reached differently, which is mildly reassuring.

32 likes 9mo
FH
f.haddadTL28 Nov 2025#52
i.bakken, post #14: Coming back to post #10, because the follow-up matters more than the original answer. Composite endpoints should be read component by component. A composite driven entirely by its softest component is a different finding from one where the components move together. This has been discussed before and I could not find the thread, so, again. Go to post

Where I part company with post #50, and it is a narrow parting.

Absolute numbers, not just relative: a 30% relative reduction tells you the ratio but not the practical magnitude. The event rate in each arm and the difference between them tells you how many people benefit.

I would treat the number as indicative rather than as a measurement.

25 likes in reply to #14 9mo
AZ
a.zamoraTL220 Dec 2025#73
f.haddad, post #52: Where I part company with post #50, and it is a narrow parting. Absolute numbers, not just relative: a 30% relative reduction tells you the ratio but not the practical magnitude. The event rate in each arm and the difference between them tells you how many people benefit. I would treat the number as indicative rather than as a… Go to post

Absolute numbers, not just relative: a 30% relative reduction tells you the ratio but not the practical magnitude. The event rate in each arm and the difference between them tells you how many people benefit.

Stating my assumptions rather than smuggling them in.

33 likes in reply to #52 7mo
KP
k.perrinTL228 Dec 2025#77

Absolute numbers, not just relative: a 30% relative reduction tells you the ratio but not the practical magnitude. The event rate in each arm and the difference between them tells you how many people benefit.

25 likes 7mo

Read the full topic (82 posts)

Promoted into the documentation commons. The content of this topic is maintained at LEADER — trial digest, with named maintainers and a review date. The promotion was discussed in doc review. Corrections are best raised against the document, which is the version that gets kept current.

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