Know Your Chances: Understanding Health Statistics

What This Book Is About PART ONE. WHAT IS MY RISK? 1. Understanding Risk 2. Putting Risk in Perspective 3. Risk Charts: A Way to Get Perspective PART TWO. CAN I REDUCE MY RISK? 4. Judging the Benefit of a Health Intervention 5. Not All Benefits Are Equal: Understand the Outcome PART THREE. DOES RISK REDUCTION HAVE DOWNSIDES? 6. Consider the Downsides 7. Do the Benefits Outweigh the Downsides? PART FOUR. DEVELOPING A HEALTHY SKEPTICISM 8. Beware of Exaggerated Importance 9. Beware of Exaggerated Certainty 10. Who's Behind the Numbers? EXTRA HELP Quick Summary Glossary Number Converter Risk Charts Credible Sources of Health Statistics Notes Index