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RE: st: Number Needed to be Treated (NNT)


From   "Nick Cox" <[email protected]>
To   <[email protected]>
Subject   RE: st: Number Needed to be Treated (NNT)
Date   Wed, 1 Aug 2007 18:06:09 +0100

Svend's -syntax- allows -if- and -in-, but the program
ignores them. 

In addition, I suggest adding a -version- statement
and some rounding in the display. I have not 
tested whether this works in Stata 7. 

*  touched by NJC 
*! 1.0.0 Svend Juul 1 August 2007 
program cs_nnt
	version 8.2 
	syntax varlist(min=2 max=2 numeric) [if] [in]

	marksample touse 
	qui count if `touse' 
	if r(N) == 0 error 2000 

	cs `varlist' if `touse' 

	local nnt = 1/r(rd)
	local ub = 1/r(ub_rd)
	local lb = 1/r(lb_rd)

	display _n as txt " NNT = "   ///
		     as res %3.2f `nnt' ///
		     as txt "  (`c(level)'% CI: " ///
		     as res %3.2f `ub'  ///
		     as txt "; " as res %3.2f `lb' as txt ")"
end

Nick 
[email protected] 

Svend Juul
 
> Carlo wrote: 
> 
> Is there any Stata 9.2 function for calculating the patient 
> number needed to
> be treated (NNT) in order to prevent one case of a given 
> disease? (Search do
> not support this query)
> 
> - and Ron�n Conroy followed up:
> ... it would make a useful addition to the -epitab- commands 
> which calculate
> absolute risk reduction, together with its associated 
> confidence interval,
> for those who are not brave enough to calculate something by hand.
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> This calls for a small program. I wrote cs_nnt.ado and put it in 
> c:\ado\personal.
> 
>    program cs_nnt
>    syntax varlist(min=2 max=2 numeric) [if] [in]
>    cs `varlist'
>    local nnt = 1/r(rd)
>    local ub = 1/r(ub_rd)
>    local lb = 1/r(lb_rd)
>    display _newline " NNT = " `nnt' "  (`c(level)'% CI: " 
> `ub' "; " `lb' ")"
>    end
> 
> It utilizes -cs- (see [ST] epitab); the -return list- command 
> discloses among
> other things: r(rd), r(ub_rd), and r(lb_rd).
> 
> Actually, the -lbw- dataset is from a case-control study, so 
> don't imagine 
> it can be used to estimate absolute risks, risk differences, or NNT.
> Here we forget this reservation:
> 
>    . webuse lbw.dta
>    (Hosmer & Lemeshow data)
> 
>    . cs_nnt low smoke
> 
>                     | smoked during pregnancy|
>                     |   Exposed   Unexposed  |      Total
>    -----------------+------------------------+------------
>               Cases |        30          29  |         59
>            Noncases |        44          86  |        130
>    -----------------+------------------------+------------
>               Total |        74         115  |        189
>                     |                        |
>                Risk |  .4054054    .2521739  |   .3121693
>                     |                        |
>                     |      Point estimate    |    [95% Conf. Interval]
>                     |------------------------+------------------------
>     Risk difference |         .1532315       |    .0160718    
> .2903912 
>          Risk ratio |         1.607642       |    1.057812    
> 2.443262 
>     Attr. frac. ex. |          .377971       |    .0546528    
> .5907112 
>     Attr. frac. pop |         .1921887       |
>                     +-------------------------------------------------
>                                   chi2(1) =     4.92  Pr>chi2 = 0.0265
> 
>     NNT = 6.5260736  (95% CI: 3.4436304; 62.220882)
> 
> Interpretation: For each 6.5 smokers we produce one low 
> birthweight baby.
> The confidence interval tells about the uncertainty of this estimate.
> 
> NNT is claimed to make communication with patients easier, 
> and that may
> sometimes be the case. But things may also be made more 
> difficult. Here
> we try with a non-existent association, creating the random binary
> variable -x-:
> 
>    . set seed 12345
>    . gen x = uniform()>0.5
>    . cs_nnt low x
> 
>                     | x                      |
>                     |   Exposed   Unexposed  |      Total
>    -----------------+------------------------+------------
>               Cases |        34          25  |         59
>            Noncases |        65          65  |        130
>    -----------------+------------------------+------------
>               Total |        99          90  |        189
>                     |                        |
>                Risk |  .3434343    .2777778  |   .3121693
>                     |                        |
>                     |      Point estimate    |    [95% Conf. Interval]
>                     |------------------------+------------------------
>     Risk difference |         .0656566       |   -.0659201    
> .1972332 
>          Risk ratio |         1.236364       |    .8040256    
> 1.901177 
>     Attr. frac. ex. |         .1911765       |   -.2437415    
> .4740101 
>     Attr. frac. pop |         .1101695       |
>                     +-------------------------------------------------
>                                   chi2(1) =     0.95  Pr>chi2 = 0.3306
> 
>     NNT = 15.230769  (95% CI: 5.0701399; -15.169883)
> 
> The confidence interval is complicated; it actually means two 
> intervals:
>    5.07 to infinity
>    minus infinity to -15.17
> - the negative numbers meaning that exposure to x may prevent low
> birthweight.
> 
> I am not sure that -cs_nnt- deserves to be made more public than this,
> but those who want can go on playing with it.

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