A good JAMA article that demonstrates how to appropriately share relative and absolute risks.

TL:DR:

Sugary drinks might up your risk for oral cavity cancer (so says relative risk but it still probably won't kill you (so says absolute risk).

In depth:

I love teaching applied statistics, including showing my students how to identify and properly attention-grabbing examples of relative risk (1, 2). HOWEVER...relative and absolute risk aren't lying. But they can scare people, so I think it is important to share both, calmly.

This example from JAMA Otolaryngology is a good example of how to responsibly share relative and absolute risk. It has a very calm, non-click bait article title:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaotolaryngology/fullarticle/2831121

Cool. Also, thanks for using female research participants. Next, the results are shared in a non-salacious manner, with the absolute risk in red and relative risk in blue.

How could you use this in class? As with most abusable research practices, sharing relative risk isn't in and of itself unethical. Using it to scare people is questionable. This is a responsible way to convey information: Yes, sugar drinks are best avoided. However, heart disease is more likely to kill us (Americans) than oral cancer. Also, this data use the Nurses Health Study which is a fascinating longitudinal study that has given us SOOOO much good health information.

Use can also use this version of the results and ask your student to find the relative and absolute risks all on their own.

Comments

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