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Compelling or irrelevant? Using number needed to treat can help decide.
1Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA. citrome@nki.rfmh.org
Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica
|May 16, 2008
Summary
The number needed to treat (NNT) metric simplifies comparing treatment effectiveness. This approach aids clinicians in understanding how often interventions yield better patient outcomes in mental health care.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Clinical Research Methodology
Background:
- The number needed to treat (NNT) is a valuable metric for assessing the comparative effectiveness of medical interventions.
- NNT quantifies the average number of patients requiring treatment to achieve one additional beneficial outcome.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the application of NNT in evaluating treatment differences for depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder.
- To demonstrate how disparate outcome measures can be unified into 'patient units' for clearer clinical interpretation.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of NNT utilization in psychiatric treatment studies.
- Demonstration of NNT calculation using published psychiatric research.
- Illustration of graphical techniques for NNT data visualization.
Main Results:
- NNT provides an easily summarizable and communicable metric for clinical trial results.
- Effective communication of NNT is possible with patients, families, and payers.
- Limitations include reliance on well-designed studies with generalizable patient populations and real-world treatment parameters.
Conclusions:
- NNT aids in predicting treatment response, encompassing both efficacy and tolerability.
- The metric facilitates a more intuitive understanding of clinical significance in psychiatric interventions.
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