Skip navigation

Glossary index

On this page are links to definitions for the jargon words often used in medicine and the numbers and statistics used to describe it. The glossary includes terms used in epidemiology, in clinical trials, in diagnosis, in statistics, and in health economics.

For many of these terms, a simple description is all that is needed, but for others, a wider discussion may be necessary. In that case, there will be a further link to a page with that wider description and/or definition.

This latest update is in April 2004; changes will be posted as they become available.

A

Absolute risk reduction/increase
Accuracy
Adverse drug reaction
Adverse effect
Adverse event
Average
A priori

B

Bayes
Bias
Blinding

C

Care pathways
Case-control study
Case report
Case series
Class effect
Clinical governance
Clinical trial
Clinical practice guideline
Cohort study
Clouded thinking
Concealment of allocation
Conditional probability
Confounding
Conflict of interest
Confidence interval
CONSORT
Control
Control event rate
Cost-benefit analysis
Cost-effectiveness analysis
Cost minimisation analysis
Cost utility analysis
Cox model
Critical appraisal
Crossover study design
Cross-sectional study
Cumulative meta-analysis

D

Decision analysis (or clinical decision analysis)
Degrees of belief
Degrees of freedom
Duplication

E

Early detection
Ecological survey
Effect size
Empirical
Epidemiology
Error (in testing)
Event rate
Evidence-based health care
Evidence-based medicine
Experimental event rate

F

False negative
False negative rate
False positive
False positive rate
Fixed effect model
Framing
Franklin's law
Frequencies

G

Gold standard
Guideline

H

Heterogeneity
Homogeneity

I

Ignorance of risks
Illusion of certainty
Impact factor
Integrated care pathway
Incidence
Inception cohort
Individual patient data
Intention-to-treat analysis
Independence
Innumeracy

L

L'Abbé plot
Life expectancy
Likelihood ratio
Longitudinal study

M

Mean, Median, Mode
MESH
Meta-analysis
Miscommunication of risks
MOOSE
Mortality reduction

N

N-of-1 trials
Natural frequencies
Negative predictive value
NICE
Null hypothesis
Number of days/years gained or lost
Number needed to treat
Number needed to harm

O

Observational study
Odds
Odds ratio
Outputs

P

P value
(patient expected event rate)
Peer review
Peto
Phases in drug developement
Placebo
Point estimate
Post test odds
Post test probability
Pre test odds
Pre test probability/prevalence
Positive predictive value
Precision
Prevalence
Principle of indifference
Probability
ProCite
Programme budgeting and marginal analysis
Prospective study
Protocol
Prior probability
Posterior probability
Propensities
Publication bias

Q

QALY
Qualitative and quantitative research
Quality of life
Quality scoring
Quasi-random allocation
QUOROM

R

Random effect model
Randomisation (or random allocation)
Randomised controlled clinical trial
Reference class
Retrospective study
Risk factor
Risk ratio or relative risk
Relative risk reduction
Relative frequencies
Reporting quality

S

Screening
Sensitivity
Searching
Selection bias
Selection criteria
Sensitivity analysis
Size
Snnout
Spectrum bias
Specificity
Sppin
STARD
Statistical power
Stratified randomisation
Surrogate endpoint or outcome
Systematic review

T

Trust

U

Uncertainty
Utility

V

Validity
Variable
Variance

W

Weighted mean or weighted mean difference