title: [Reading medical articles--what pitfalls to avoid].
abstract: Critical reading and careful interpretation of results of the medical literature is a difficult task for primary care physicians. Being aware of common potential pitfalls that may bias results of a study is helpful. Among common pitfalls, odds ratios are often interpreted as relative risks, which overestimate the impact of a risk factor. Randomized controlled trials assessing the effectiveness of a new drug or a new target disease often use surrogate markers instead of clinical events as outcomes. Results of these trials should be considered with caution before using their results for clinical practice. For screening, observational studies often yield potentially biased or conflicting results. As clinical guidelines and expert opinions are often conflicting, primary care physicians should wait for results of large clinical trials in clinical events before changing their practice for screening or new drugs.
authors.affiliation: PMU, Université de Lausanne, 1011 Lausanne.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rodondi
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cornuz
mesh_terms: D000924:Anticholesteremic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000187:drug effects; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003704:Dementia / Q000188:drug therapy; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000188:drug therapy; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010506:Periodicals as Topic; D010821:Physicians, Family; D011804:Quinolines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D011932:Reading; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D000924:Anticholesteremic Agents; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D011804:Quinolines; C483909:torcetrapib