Basics. NNT

The NNT – number needed to treat – is thought by many to be a central core of EBMing. (I’d argue that the numbers in EBM are only a small part of the equation – and that understanding the question and the biases inherent in the study design are greater – but I’d still agree […]

Read More…

Populations matter

So, as I occasionally bang on about, I spend a fair bit of time with children and young people with cancer. We do a lot of transfusions of blood components in this population, frequently because we heartlessly pour toxins into them in order to try to kill of their malignancy. We’ve been debating hard recently […]

Read More…

Basics. Size vs. bias

There’s a beautifully clear explanation behind the BMJ-EBM-journal paywall of a concept I’ve been struggling to express for some time, which is partly there in GRADE and partly grounded in common sense. Take the parachute argument — do you really need an RCT for parachutes (as there are survivors of non-‘chuted  falls) — and reductio ad […]

Read More…

Another #ADC_JC in the bag

As some of you will be aware from being involved or lurking (nothing Yewtree about that …) the ADC_JC has been a worldwide Twitter phenomenon. Last month, we looked at Concussion presenting to the ED. The summary and story of the hour is captured brilliantly here : http://storify.com/dralangrayson/concussion-not-just-for-epl-footballers (splellng mistakes and all). Next month will see […]

Read More…

#TakeoverDay 2013.

Do you know a young person who would want to blog to a worldwide group of children/young people’s clinicians? Run the twitter account of an international journal for a day? Next Friday, 22 November 2013, is the Children’s Takeover Day 2013 in the UK and we at the Archives of Diseases in Childhood, despite the fusty […]

Read More…