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Understanding Relative Risk (RR) in Studies

Relative risk (RR) is a measure that compares the incidence of disease in exposed individuals to that in non-exposed individuals, calculated as the ratio of these incidences. An RR greater than 1 indicates a positive association between exposure and outcome, while an RR less than 1 indicates a negative association. The document also provides an example using smoking and myocardial ischemia to illustrate the calculation and interpretation of RR.

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28 views19 pages

Understanding Relative Risk (RR) in Studies

Relative risk (RR) is a measure that compares the incidence of disease in exposed individuals to that in non-exposed individuals, calculated as the ratio of these incidences. An RR greater than 1 indicates a positive association between exposure and outcome, while an RR less than 1 indicates a negative association. The document also provides an example using smoking and myocardial ischemia to illustrate the calculation and interpretation of RR.

Uploaded by

sahilsb149
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© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Relative risk (RR)

RR = ratio of incidence of disease in exposed individuals


to the incidence of disease in non-exposed individuals
(from a cohort/prospective study)
 Relative risk or risk ratio (RR) is the ratio of the probability
of an event occurring ( eg:developing of an ADR to a drug)
in an exposed group to the probability of the event
occurring in nonexposed group.
(OR)
 Compares the risk of a health event among one group with
the risk among another group.
Includes 2 features:
A comparison of risk
between two “exposure”
puts risks in context , and
“exposure” is ensured
by having proper
denominators for each
group representing the
exposure
Relative Risk Calculation
RR = incidence in exposed
Incidence in non-exposed
It is a ratio of two risks, the risk of the outcome/event in the treated group compared
with the outcome in those not exposed(control group).

RR = Proportion of events in experimental group/proportion of events in control


group.

RR above 1 indicates treatment/exposure is associated with the outcome and below
1 means that the treatment is negatively associated with the outcome.

When the rate in the exposed group is equal to the rate in the
comparison group RR will be equal to 1.
An RR of 2 means that the rate in the exposed group is twice that in the non-exposed
group.
An RR of 0.5 means that the rate in the exposed persons is half that of non-exposed
persons.
If RR > 1, there is a positive association
If RR < 1, there is a negative association
 Measure of association

relative risk
odds ratio

Type of study Measure of association

Cross-sectional study Odds ratio

Case-control study Odds ratio

Cohort study Relative risk

Intervention study Odds ratio/Relative risk


Example: Smoking & MI
Out of total 500 individuals, 80 are smoking & among 125 MI
patients 45 are smoking, find out is there any association
between occurrence of MI & smoking?
Construct a 2×2 contingency table
Myocardial ischemia
Smoking Total
Yes No

Yes 45 35 80

No 80 340 420

Total 125 375 500


Calculation of Relative risk (RR)

• Interpretation of RR: Smokers are at 2.95 times greater risk of


developing MI than non-smokers

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