I thank Keene et al for their letter. I am pleased to clarify the issues they have raised about my paper. First, I agree that when dealing with recurrent events such as exacerbations, it is statistically more informative to analyse all events with tools such as incidence rates and rate differences. The point of my paper, however, was that inverting these rate differences and calling the result ...

Familial glucocorticoid deficiency (FGD) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by low levels of cortisol despite high adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) levels, due to the reduced ability of the adrenal cortex to produce cortisol in response to stimulation by ACTH. FGD is a heterogeneous disorder for which causal mutations have been identified in MC2R, MRAP, MCM4 and TXNRD2. Also mutations i...

When discussing treatment options with patients, clinicians often use terms such as "frequently" or "rarely" when referring to potential benefits or possible harms. Quantitative measurements of treatment benefits and harms derived from randomized clinical trials or meta-analysis such as odds ratios or risk reduction are more precise terms, yet physicians and their patients find them difficult t...

BACKGROUND Case-control studies previously conducted in Pakistan suggested that topical antimicrobials might provide protection against neonatal tetanus (NNT) when applied to the umbilical cord wound during the first several days of life. The present case-control study, the largest such study yet reported, was undertaken in Punjab Province, Pakistan and afforded further opportunities to evaluat...

Systematic reviews summarize large amounts of information and are more likely than individual trials to describe the true clinical effect of an intervention. Traditional statistical outputs from systematic reviews cannot immediately be applied to clinical practice. The number needed to treat (NNT) has that clinical immediacy. This number can be calculated easily from raw data or from statistica...

Not all proteins are tolerable to mutations. Whether a specific protein can be a mutable target is of importance in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. This study reported a novel mutagenesis assay using tandem NNT and NNC oligonucleotides to test the mutability of a candidate gene. These two tandem oligonucleotides avoid the risk of forming nonsense mutations and render flexibility ...

BACKGROUND Previous before-and-after studies indicate that the use of safety checklists in surgery reduces complication rates in patients. METHODS A systematic review of studies was undertaken using MEDLINE, CINAHL, Proquest, and the Cochrane Library to identify studies that evaluated the effects of checklist use in surgery on complication rates. Study quality was assessed using the Methodolo...

Abstract Background Lumateperone is an FDA-approved antipsychotic to treat schizophrenia and depressive episodes associated with bipolar I or II disorder as monotherapy adjunctive therapy lithium valproate. This post hoc analysis investigated the efficacy tolerability of lumateperone in patients via number needed (NNT), harm (NNH), likelihood be helped harmed (LHH). Methods Data were pooled fro...

ACEi/ARB and ß blocker and aldosterone antagonist have been a gold standard for treating chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). The paper described simply the PARADIGM-HF study (Prospective comparison of ARNi with ACEi to Determine Impact on Global Mortality and morbidity in HF trial), and the results showed that compared to enalapril, LCZ69(ARNi) significantly reduced th...