Patients, their doctors, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and the perception of risk.
This article is about risk. Risk is probably the most misunderstood component in determining therapeutic intervention; however, it is probably the most relevant issue to consider in the context of expected benefit. The rarity of quantitative risk-benefit assessment and the lack of comparative risk-benefit when alternative therapies exist for a given condition leads to inadequate decisions. Without some quantitation of the risks associated with specific therapies, doctors and patients cannot make optimal risk-benefit calculations. Patients may abandon effective therapies for which benefits may still outweigh risks, or opt for therapies with less well-publicized potential adverse events of even greater frequency or severity. When only small incremental benefits accrue to patients from the use of a given therapy, on the other hand, even very rare serious events may play a role in decision-making by patients, by their health care providers and by regulatory authorities.
Goldkind
Lawrence
L
Department of Gastroenterology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. sgoldkind@aol.com
Simon
Lee S
LS
D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D010361:Patients; D010820:Physicians; D018570:Risk Assessment
D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal