Assessment of clinical significance: the number needed to treat.

ABSTRACT

The practising ophthalmologist is frequently confronted with treatment options shown to be "statistically significantly better" than those currently in use. Unfortunately what is statistically significant may not necessarily be clinically significant enough for the practitioner to change from the currently preferred method of treatment. In this article we use common ophthalmic examples to introduce the "number needed to treat" (NNT), as a simple clinical approach for the practising ophthalmologist wishing to assess the clinical significance of treatment options.