Understanding Treatment Effect Estimates When Treatment Effects Are Heterogeneous for More Than One Outcome.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Patient-centred care requires evidence of treatment effects across many outcomes. Outcomes can be beneficial (e.g. increased survival or cure rates) or detrimental (e.g. adverse events, pain associated with treatment, treatment costs, time required for treatment). Treatment effects may also be heterogeneous across outcomes and across patients. Randomized controlled trials are usually insufficient to supply evidence across outcomes. Observational data analysis is an alternative, with the caveat that the treatments observed are choices. Real-world treatment choice often involves complex assessment of expected effects across the array of outcomes. Failure to account for this complexity when interpreting treatment effect estimates could lead to clinical and policy mistakes.<

SUBMITTER: Brooks JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6437676 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature