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Glossary of terms used in health research - R

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  • Race-specific mortality rate
    • A mortality rate limited to a specified racial group. Both numerator and denominator are limited to the specified group.
  • Random
  • Random allocation
    • MeSH
      A method that uses the play of chance to assign participants to comparison groups in a trial, e.g. by using a random numbers table or a computer-generated random sequence. Random allocation implies that each individual or unit being entered into a trial has the same chance of receiving each of the possible interventions. It also implies that the probability that an individual will receive a particular intervention is independent of the probability that any other individual will receive the same intervention.
      A process involving chance used in therapeutic trials or other research endeavor for allocating experimental subjects, human or animal, between treatment and control groups, or among treatment groups. It may also apply to experiments on inanimate objects.
  • Random assignment
    • Wikipedia
      The arbitrary process through which eligible study participants are assigned to either a control group or the group of people who will receive the intervention.
  • Random-effects model
    • Wikipedia
      In meta-analysis: a statistical model in which both within-study sampling error (variance) and between-studies variation are included in the assessment of the uncertainty (confidence interval) of the results of a meta-analysis. When there is heterogeneity among the results of the included studies beyond chance, random-effects models will give wider confidence intervals than fixed-effect models.
      A method of combining individual effect sizes in which heterogeneity is incorporated into the pooled estimate by including a between study component of variance. It assumes that the sample of studies included in the analysis is drawn from a population of studies. The random effects model does not assume homogeneity of the effects across the studies being pooled—that is, each sample of studies has a true effect size. There is no agreement on whether this model is more suitable than the fixed effects model to combine individual studies.
  • Random error
    • Wikipedia
      Error due to the play of chance. Confidence intervals and P-values allow for the existence of random error, but not systematic errors (bias).
  • Random permuted blocks
    • A method of randomization that ensures that, at any point in a trial, roughly equal numbers of participants have been allocated to all the comparison groups. Permuted blocks should be used in trials using stratified randomization. (Also called block randomization.)
  • Random sample
    • Wikipedia
      A group of people selected for a study that is representative of the population of interest. This means that everyone in the population has an equal chance of being approached to participate in the survey, and the process is meant to ensure that a sample is as representative of the population as possible. It has less bias than a convenience sample: that is, a group that the researchers have more convenient access to. Randomized trials are rarely carried out on random samples.
      A sample derived by selecting individuals such that each individual has the same probability of selection.
  • Randomization
    • Wikipedia
      The process of randomly allocating participants into one of the arms of a controlled trial. There are two components to randomization: the generation of a random sequence, and its implementation, ideally in a way so that those entering participants into a study are not aware of the sequence (concealment of allocation).
      A method based on chance by which study participants are assigned to a treatment group. Randomization minimizes the differences among groups by equally distributing people with particular characteristics among all the trial arms. The researchers do not know which treatment is better. From what is known at the time, any one of the treatments chosen could be of benefit to the participant.
      When referring to an experiment or clinical trial, the process by which animal or human subjects are assigned by chance to separate groups that compare different treatments or other interventions. Randomization gives each participant an equal chance of being assigned to any of the groups.
      The process of assigning trial subjects to treatment or control groups using an element of chance to determine the assignments in order to reduce bias.
  • Randomized clinical trial
    • Wikipedia
      A study in which the participants are assigned by chance to separate groups that compare different treatments; neither the researchers nor the participants can choose which group. Using chance to assign people to groups means that the groups will be similar and that the treatments they receive can be compared objectively. At the time of the trial, it is not known which treatment is best. It is the patient's choice to be in a randomized trial.
      A study in which participants are randomly (i.e., by chance) assigned to one of two or more treatment arms of a clinical trial. Occasionally placebos are utilized.
  • Randomized controlled trial
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      An experiment in which two or more interventions, possibly including a control intervention or no intervention, are compared by being randomly allocated to participants. In most trials one intervention is assigned to each individual but sometimes assignment is to defined groups of individuals (for example, in a household) or interventions are assigned within individuals (for example, in different orders or to different parts of the body).
      Clinical trials that involve at least one test treatment and one control treatment, concurrent enrollment and follow-up of the test- and control-treated groups, and in which the treatments to be administered are selected by a random process, such as the use of a random-numbers table.
      Randomized controlled trial [MeSH - publication type]: work consisting of a clinical trial that involves at least one test treatment and one control treatment, concurrent enrollment and follow-up of the test- and control-treated groups, and in which the treatments to be administered are selected by a random process, such as the use of a random-numbers table.
  • Range
    • Wikipedia
      In a group of scores, the range is the difference between the maximum and minimum scores.
      In statistics, the difference between the largest and smallest values in a distribution. In common use, the span of values from smallest to largest.
  • Rate
    • The speed or frequency of occurrence of an event, usually expressed with respect to time. For instance, a mortality rate might be the number of deaths per year, per 100,000 people.
      An expression of the frequency with which an event occurs in a defined population.
  • Rate ratio
    • Wikipedia
      A rate ratio in epidemiology is calculated to compare the ratio of events occurring at any given point in time. Rate Ratio = Incidence Rate 1/Incidence Rate 2
      A comparison of two groups in terms of incidence rates, person-time rates, or mortality rates.
  • Ratio
    • Wikipedia
      A numerical expression of the relationship between one set of frequencies and another. An example is the ratio of males to females in a sample.
      The value obtained by dividing one quantity by another.
  • Reasoning
    • Wikipedia
      Reasoning refers to the process of drawing inferences or conclusions from premises, facts, or other evidence.
  • Recall bias
    • Wikipedia
      A bias arising from mistakes in recollecting events, both because of failures of memory, and looking at things 'with hindsight' and possibly changed views. People's reports of what is happening to them currently, therefore, can be more accurate than their recall of what happened two years ago and how they felt about it at the time. This bias is a threat to the validity of retrospective studies.
      Bias due to imperfect recall by questionnaire respondents of events in their households. Usually results in an under-estimation of mortality.
  • Recall period
    • Period of interest in the measurement of a mortality rate, i.e. the interval of time to which the mortality rate in a given population refers.
  • Records
    • MeSH
      The commitment in writing, as authentic evidence, of something having legal importance. The concept includes certificates of birth, death, etc., as well as hospital, medical, and other institutional records.
  • Recruitment
    • Wikipedia
      The process of getting participants into a randomized trial.
      The period during which a trial is attempting to identify and enroll participants. Recruitment activities can include advertising and other ways of soliciting interest from possible participants.
  • Recruitment status
    • Indicates the current stage of a trial, whether it is planned, ongoing, or completed.
  • Recurrent miscarriage
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      The spontaneous termination of three or more pregnancies before the 20th week of gestation.
      Habitual abortion, recurrent miscarriage or recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is the occurrence of repeated (three or more consecutive) pregnancies that end in miscarriage of the fetus, usually before 20 weeks of gestation.
      Three or more consecutive spontaneous abortions.
  • Recursive partitioning analysis
    • Wikipedia
      A technique for determining the optimal way of using a set of predictor variables to estimate the likelihood of an individual experiencing a particular outcome. The technique repeatedly divides the population (e.g., old vs. young; among young and old, the men and the women; and so on) according to their status on variables that discriminate between those who will have the outcome of interest and those who will not.
  • Reference
    • Wikipedia
      A short note detailing the source of information or a quoted passage.
  • Reference population
    • The population that the results of a study can be generalized to.
  • Reference standard
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      A standardized object or substance which is used as a measurement base for similar objects or substances.
      A basis of value established for the measure of quantity, weight, extent or quality, e.g. weight standards, standard solutions, methods, techniques, and procedures used in diagnosis and therapy.
  • Reference values
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      In health-related fields, a reference range (or reference values or interval) is a set of values of some measurement that a physician or other health professional can use to interpret a set of results for a particular patient. It is determined by collecting data from vast numbers of laboratory tests.
      The range or frequency distribution of a measurement in a population (of organisms, organs or things) that has not been selected for the presence of disease or abnormality.
  • Referral and consultation
    • MeSH
      The practice of sending a patient to another program or practitioner for services or advice which the referring source is not prepared to provide.
  • Referral bias
    • Occurs when characteristics of patients differ between one setting (e.g., primary care) and another setting that includes only referred patients (e.g., secondary or tertiary care).
  • Referred care
    • Medical care provided to a patient when referred by one health professional to another with more specialized qualifications or interests. There are two levels of referred care: secondary and tertiary. Secondary care is usually provided by a broadly skilled specialist such as a general surgeon, general internist, or obstetrician.
  • Reflexivity
    • In qualitative research using field observation, whichever of the three approaches used, the observer will always have some effect on what is being observed, small or large. This interaction of the observer with what is observed is called reflexivity. Whether it plays a positive or negative role in accessing social truths, the researcher must acknowledge and investigate reflexivity and account for it in data interpretation.
      An awareness of the researcher's contribution to the construction of meanings throughout the research process, and an acknowledgment of the impossibility of remaining ‘outside of’ one's subject matter while conducting research.
  • Regimen
    • A treatment plan that specifies the dosage, the schedule, and the duration of treatment.
  • Regional health planning
    • MeSH
      Planning for health resources at a regional or multi-state level.
  • Registries
    • MeSH
      The systems and processes involved in the establishment, support, management, and operation of registers, e.g., disease registers.
  • Regression analysis
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      A statistical modeling technique used to estimate or predict the influence of one or more independent variables on a dependent variable, e.g. the effect of age, sex, and educational level on the prevalence of a disease. Logistic regression and meta-regression are types of regression analysis.
      Procedures for finding the mathematical function which best describes the relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables. In linear regression (see linear models) the relationship is constrained to be a straight line and least-squares analysis is used to determine the best fit. in logistic regression (see logistic models) the dependent variable is qualitative rather than continuously variable and likelihood functions are used to find the best relationship. In multiple regression, the dependent variable is considered to depend on more than a single independent variable.
  • Regression coefficient
    • The term used to signify the amount by which a change in one variable must be multiplied to give the corresponding average change in the other variable. It represents the degree to which the regression line slopes upwards or downwards.
  • Regression equation
    • An equation to describe the correlation between two variables, meaning that when one of them changes by a certain amount the other changes on the average by a certain amount.
  • Regression line
    • A line drawn on a scatter diagram, to illustrate the degree and direction of the correlation between two variables.
  • Regression to the mean
    • Wikipedia
      A phenomenon where, upon re-measurement, previous extreme (very high or low) scores tend to move towards (regress to) the average score.
  • Regulatory authorities
    • Bodies having the power to regulate. In the ICH GCP guidance, the expression "Regulatory Authorities" includes the authorities that review submitted clinical data and those that conduct inspections. These bodies are sometimes referred to as competent authorities.
  • Relative benefit increase
    • The proportional increase in rates of good outcomes between experimental and control participants. It is calculated by dividing the rate of good outcome in the experimental group (experimental event rate, or EER) minus the rate of good outcome in the control group by the rate of good outcome in the control group.
  • Relative diagnostic odds ratio
    • The diagnostic odds ratio is a single value that provides one way of representing the power of the diagnostic test. It is applicable when we have a single cut point for a test and classify tests results as positive and negative. The diagnostic odds ratio is calculated as the product of the true positive and true negative divided by the product of the false positives and false negatives. The relative diagnostic odds ratio is the ratio of one diagnostic odds ratio to another.
  • Relative difference
    • Wikipedia
      The absolute difference (risk difference) in rates of harmful outcomes between experimental groups (experimental event rate, or EER) and control groups (control event rate, or CER), calculated as the rate of harmful outcome in the control group minus the rate of harmful outcome in the experimental group (CER – EER). Typically used to describe a beneficial exposure or intervention (e.g., if 20% of patients in the control group have an adverse event, as do 10% among treated patients, the ARR or risk difference would be 10% expressed as a percentage or 0.10 expressed as a proportion).
  • Relative poverty
    • Wikipedia
      Relative poverty defines poverty in terms of its relation to the standards that exist elsewhere in society.
      A measure of relative poverty defines "poverty" as being below some relative poverty threshold.
  • Relative risk
    • Wikipedia
      The ratio of the incidence of the outcome in the exposed group to the incidence of the outcome in the unexposed group.
      A comparison of the risk of some health-related event such as disease or death in two groups.
  • Relative risk increase
    • The proportional increase in rates of harmful outcomes between experimental and control participants. It is calculated by dividing the rate of harmful outcome in the experimental group (experimental event rate, or EER) minus the rate of harmful outcome in the control group (control event rate, or CER) by the rate of harmful outcome in the control group ([EER – CER]/CER). Typically used with a harmful exposure.
  • Relative risk reduction
    • Wikipedia
      The proportional reduction in risk in one treatment group compared to another. It is one minus the risk ratio. If the risk ratio is 0.25, then the relative risk reduction is 1-0.25=0.75, or 75%.
  • Relative survival rate
    • Wikipedia
      In epidemiology, the relative survival rate (RSR) is defined as the ratio of observed survival in a population to the expected survival rate.
  • Relative value scales
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      Resource-based relative value scale (RBRVS) is a schema used to determine how much money medical providers should be paid.
      Coded listings of physician or other professional services using units that indicate the relative value of the various services they perform. They take into account time, skill, and overhead cost required for each service, but generally do not consider the relative cost-effectiveness. Appropriate conversion factors can be used to translate the abstract units of the relative value scales into dollar fees for each service based on work expended, practice costs, and training costs.
  • Relevance
    • Wikipedia
      Relevance refers to whether the research is appropriate to the identified review question and whether the study findings are transferable (generalizable) to the population or setting whom the question concerns.
  • Reliability
    • Wikipedia
      The degree to which results obtained by a measurement procedure can be replicated. Lack of reliability can arise from divergences between observers or measurement instruments, measurement error, or instability in the attribute being measured.
      The extent to which an observation that is repeated in the same stable population yields the same result (i.e. test–retest reliability). Also, the ability of a single observation to distinguish consistently among individuals in a population.
      Reliability is the degree to which observations or measures can be replicated, when repeated under the same conditions.
  • Reminder systems
    • MeSH
      A strategy for changing clinician behavior. Manual or computerized reminders to prompt behavior change.
      Systems used to prompt or aid the memory. The systems can be computerized reminders, color coding, telephone calls, or devices such as letters and postcards.
  • Replicate
    • Do the same thing to other people in order to achieve the same outcomes that occurred in a study. Also, repeating the circumstances of a study to test whether the results and outcomes are similar in another sample or population.
      To implement a program in a setting other than the one for which it originally was designed and implemented, with attention to the faithful transfer of its core elements to the new setting.
  • Reporting bias
    • Wikipedia
      A bias caused by only a subset of all the relevant data being available. The publication of research can depend on the nature and direction of the study results. Studies in which an intervention is not found to be effective are sometimes not published. Because of this, systematic reviews that fail to include unpublished studies may overestimate the true effect of an intervention. In addition, a published report might present a biased set of results (e.g. only outcomes or sub-groups where a statistically significant difference was found. (Also called publication bias.)
      Bias due to (often intentional) under- or over-reporting of information, such as number of deaths or household size.
  • Representative sample
    • Wikipedia
      A sample that accurately reflects the characteristics of the population from which it is drawn. It is a precise miniaturized representation of the proportion of elements of the population.
      A sample whose characteristics correspond to those of the original population or reference population.
  • Representativeness
    • Ability of the system to accurately describe the occurrence of a health-related event by place and person over time in a given population.
  • Reproducibility
    • Wikipedia
      Refers to the ability of a test or experiment to be accurately reproduced, or replicated, by someone else working independently.
  • Reproducibility of results
    • MeSH
      The statistical reproducibility of measurements (often in a clinical context), including the testing of instrumentation or techniques to obtain reproducible results. The concept includes reproducibility of physiological measurements, which may be used to develop rules to assess probability or prognosis, or response to a stimulus; reproducibility of occurrence of a condition; and reproducibility of experimental results.
  • Reproduction
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      The biological process by which new "offspring" individual organisms are produced from their "parents".
      The total process by which organisms produce offspring.
  • Reproductive behavior
    • MeSH
      Human behavior or decision related to reproduction.
  • Reproductive control agents
    • MeSH
      Substances used either in the prevention or facilitation of pregnancy.
  • Reproductive health
    • Wikipedia
      Within the framework of WHO's definition of health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, reproductive health, or sexual health/hygiene, addresses the reproductive processes, functions and system at all stages of life. Reproductive health, therefore, implies that people are able to have a responsible, satisfying and safer sex life and that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when and how often to do so. Implicit in this are the right of men and women to be informed of and to have access to safe, effective, affordable and acceptable methods of fertility regulation of their choice; and the right of access to appropriate health care services that will enable women to go safely through pregnancy and childbirth and provide couples with the best chance of having a healthy infant.
  • Reproductive health services
    • MeSH
      Health care services related to human reproduction and diseases of the reproductive system. Services are provided to both sexes and usually by physicians in the medical or the surgical specialities such as reproductive medicine; andrology; gynecology; obstetrics; and perinatology.
  • Reproductive history
    • MeSH
      An important aggregate factor in epidemiological studies of women's health. The concept usually includes the number and timing of pregnancies and their outcomes, the incidence of breast feeding, and may include age of menarche and menopause, regularity of menstruation, fertility, gynecological or obstetric problems, or contraceptive usage.
  • Reproductive medicine
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      A branch of medicine that deals with prevention, diagnosis and management of reproductive problems; goals include improving or maintaining reproductive health and allowing people to have children at a time of their choosing. It is founded on knowledge of reproductive anatomy, physiology, and endocrinology, and incorporates relevant aspects of molecular biology, biochemistry and pathology.
      A medical-surgical specialty concerned with the morphology, physiology, biochemistry, and pathology of reproduction in man and other animals, and on the biological, medical, and veterinary problems of fertility and lactation. It includes ovulation induction, diagnosis of infertility and recurrent pregnancy loss, and assisted reproductive technologies such as embryo transfer, in vitro fertilization, and intrafallopian transfer of zygotes.
  • Reproductive rights
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      Reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. They also include the right of all to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence.
  • Research
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      The search for knowledge or any systematic investigation to establish facts.
      Critical and exhaustive investigation or experimentation, having for its aim the discovery of new facts and their correct interpretation, the revision of accepted conclusions, theories, or laws in the light of newly discovered facts, or the practical application of such new or revised conclusions, theories, or laws.
  • Research design
    • MeSH
      A plan for collecting and utilizing data so that desired information can be obtained with sufficient precision or so that an hypothesis can be tested properly.
  • Research ethics
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      Research ethics involves the application of fundamental ethical principles to a variety of topics involving scientific research. These include the design and implementation of research involving human experimentation, animal experimentation, various aspects of academic scandal, including scientific misconduct (such as fraud, fabrication of data and plagiarism), whistleblowing; regulation of research, etc.
      The moral obligations governing the conduct of research. Used for discussions of research ethics as a general topic.
  • Research peer review
    • MeSH
      The evaluation by experts of the quality and pertinence of research or research proposals of other experts in the same field. Peer review is used by editors in deciding which submissions warrant publication, by granting agencies to determine which proposals should be funded, and by academic institutions in tenure decisions.
  • Research personnel
    • MeSH
      Those individuals engaged in research.
  • Research protocol
    • A document describing in detail how a research study is to be conducted in practice, including the methodology, a plan for analysing the results, and a budget.
  • Research question
    • Wikipedia
      A research question is the methodological point of departure of scholarly research in both the natural sciences and humanities.
      The main question a research project aims to answer.
  • Research subjects
    • MeSH
      Persons who are enrolled in research studies or who are otherwise the subjects of research.
  • Research support
    • MeSH
      Financial support of research activities.
  • Research translation
    • The sequence of events through which a proven scientific discovery moves in a bidirectional fashion between basic scientists, clinical researchers, practitioners, and consumers of health care services.
      Also called knowledge translation.
  • Researcher-subject relations
    • MeSH
      Interaction between research personnel and research subjects.
  • Residual confounding
    • Wikipedia
      Unknown, unmeasured, or suboptimally measured prognostic factors that remain unbalanced between groups after full covariable adjustment by statistical techniques. The remaining imbalance will lead to a biased assessment of the effect of any putatively causal exposure.
  • Resource allocation
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      Resource allocation is used to assign the available resources in an economic way.
      Societal or individual decisions about the equitable distribution of available resources.
  • Resource costs
    • Resource costs of a health intervention or program include: capital costs (new and existing buildings or equipment); staffing costs (physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, etc); consumable costs (drugs, dressings, etc); non-patient related costs (administration and overhead costs); costs incurred in non-health care sectors (social services, etc); and costs incurred by patients and their families (transportation, parking, child care, etc). Each of these components must be identified, measured and valued. The range of costs (and benefits) included in a particular economic evaluation depends upon the perspective taken, which could be that of the individual patient or provider, hospital, health authority, health insurer or society.
  • Respect for human dignity
    • Considered by some the “cardinal principle of modern research ethics”. In addition to respect for autonomy and freedom from coercion, it includes consideration of the human condition, cultural sensitivity by researchers, and protecting persons, not only from physical harm, but also from demeaning or disrespectful actions or situations.
  • Respect for persons
    • A prima facie principle in bioethics underlying the obligation for informed consent in research and decisions regarding study design and interventions. From the Kantian tradition: persons should be treated as ends in themselves and not as means to an end. Implies two distinct moral requirements: acknowledge autonomy and protect those with diminished autonomy.
  • Restricted randomization
    • Wikipedia
      Any procedure used with random assignment to achieve balance between study groups in size or baseline characteristics. Blocking is used to ensure that comparison groups will be of approximately the same size. With stratification, randomization with restriction is carried out separately within each of two or more subsets of participants (for example, defining disease severity or study centers) to ensure that the patient characteristics are closely balanced within each intervention group.
  • Retracted publication
    • Retracted publication [MeSH - publication type]: work consisting of a designation of an article or book as retracted in whole or in part by an author or authors or an authorized representative. It identifies a citation previously published and now retracted through a formal issuance from the author, publisher, or other authorized agent, and is distinguished from retraction of publication, which identifies the citation retracting the original published item.
  • Retraction of publication
    • MeSH
      Authors' withdrawal or disavowal of their participation in performing research or writing the results of their study.
      Retraction of publication [MeSH - publication type]: work consisting of a statement issued by one or more authors of an article or a book, withdrawing or disavowing acknowledgment of their participation in performing research or writing the results of their study. in indexing, the retraction is sent to the editor of the publication in which the article appeared and is published under the rubric "retraction" or in the form of a letter. this publication type designates the author's statement of retraction: it should be differentiated from retracted publication which labels the retracted publication.
  • Retrospective
    • Wikipedia
      Looking back at events that have already taken place.
  • Retrospective cohort study
    • Wikipedia
      A research study in which the medical records of groups of individuals who are alike in many ways but differ by a certain characteristic (for example, female nurses who smoke and those who do not smoke) are compared for a particular outcome. Also called a historic cohort study.
  • Retrospective study
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      A study that compares two groups of people: those with the disease or condition under study (cases) and a very similar group of people who do not have the disease or condition (controls). Researchers study the medical and lifestyle histories of the people in each group to learn what factors may be associated with the disease or condition. For example, one group may have been exposed to a particular substance that the other was not. Also called a case-control study.
      A study in which the outcomes have occurred to the participants before the study commenced. Case-control studies are usually retrospective, cohort studies sometimes are, randomized controlled trials never are.
      A study that looks at events that took place in the past; can involve extracting information from medical records or interviewing patients about past events or behavior.
      Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons.
  • Retrospective survey
    • Study of past mortality in a population using a standardized questionnaire that is administered to the entire population or, more commonly, to a randomly selected sample.
  • Review
    • A systematic review or a review article in the medical literature which summarizes a number of different studies and may draw conclusions about a particular intervention. Review articles are often not systematic. Review articles are also sometimes called overviews.
      Review [MeSH - publication type]: an article or book published after examination of published material on a subject. It may be comprehensive to various degrees and the time range of material scrutinized may be broad or narrow, but the reviews most often desired are reviews of the current literature. The textual material examined may be equally broad and can encompass, in medicine specifically, clinical material as well as experimental research or case reports. State-of-the-art reviews tend to address more current matters.
  • Review of reviews
    • These are systematic and explicit methods to identify, select, and critically appraise relevant findings from systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses. They may also include individual studies (i.e. randomized controlled trials).
  • Review process
    • Wikipedia
      For an article to be accepted for publication in a medical journal it must undergo a review process. Each journal creates its own process, but they have certain common characteristics in general. There are various general "levels" of scrutiny, which have some effect on the respect given to articles published in the journals. Some broad categories might be editorial review, peer review, and blind peer review.
  • Rights
    • Wikipedia
      Justified claims made by individuals or groups upon others and based on a system of rules authorizing us to affirm or demand what is due. Possessing a right validly constrains others from interfering with the exercise of that right. Moral rights are claims justified by moral principles and are correlated with obligations. In public health, a broadly defined set of human rights are often asserted.
  • Risk
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      The proportion of participants experiencing the event of interest. Thus, if out of 100 participants the event (e.g. a stroke) is observed in 32, the risk is 0.32. The control group risk is the risk amongst the control group. The risk is sometimes referred to as the event rate, and the control group risk as the control event rate. However, these latter terms confuse risk with rate. Statistical texts in particular are happy to discuss risk of beneficial effects as well as adverse events.
      The chance of probability that an event will occur.
      The probability that an event will occur, e.g. that an individual will become ill or die within a stated period of time or age.
      The probability that an event will occur. It encompasses a variety of measures of the probability of a generally unfavorable outcome.
  • Risk adjustment
    • MeSH
      The use of severity-of-illness measures, such as age, to estimate the risk (measurable or predictable chance of loss, injury or death) to which a patient is subject before receiving some health care intervention. This adjustment allows comparison of performance and quality across organizations, practitioners, and communities.
  • Risk assessment
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      The use of the factual base to define the health effects of exposure of individuals or populations to hazardous materials and situations.
      The qualitative or quantitative estimation of the likelihood of adverse effects that may result from exposure to specified health hazards or from the absence of beneficial influences.
  • Risk-benefit ratio
    • Wikipedia
      The risk to individual participants versus the potential benefits. The risk/benefit ratio may differ depending on the condition being treated.
  • Risk difference
    • Wikipedia
      The difference in size of risk between two groups. For example, if one group has a 15% risk of contracting a particular disease, and the other has a 10% risk of getting the disease, the risk difference is five percentage points. (Also called absolute risk difference, absolute risk reduction.)
  • Risk factor
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      A factor that is believed to increase the probability of a certain outcome or illness.
      An aspect of a person's condition, lifestyle or environment that affects the probability of occurrence of a disease. For example, cigarette smoking is a risk factor for lung cancer.
      An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, an environmental exposure, or an inborn or inherited characteristic that is associated with an increased occurrence of disease or other health-related event or condition.
      An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, or inborn or inherited characteristic, which, on the basis of epidemiologic evidence, is known to be associated with a health-related condition considered important to prevent.
  • Risk management
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      Risk management entails options for avoiding, reducing or treating the risks, consideration of their costs and benefits, and the adequacy of contingency plans. It also includes discussion of how differing perceptions of risk can be mediated and whether future health risks can be predicted.
      The process of minimizing risk to an organization by developing systems to identify and analyze potential hazards to prevent accidents, injuries, and other adverse occurrences, and by attempting to handle events and incidents which do occur in such a manner that their effect and cost are minimized. Effective risk management has its greatest benefits in application to insurance in order to avert or minimize financial liability.
  • Risk ratio
    • A comparison of the risk of some health-related event such as disease or death in two groups.
  • ROC curve
    • MeSH - Wikipedia
      In signal detection theory, a receiver operating characteristic (ROC), or simply ROC curve, is a graphical plot of the sensitivity, or true positives, vs. (1 − specificity), or false positives, for a binary classifier system as its discrimination threshold is varied. The ROC can also be represented equivalently by plotting the fraction of true positives (TPR = true positive rate) vs. the fraction of false positives (FPR = false positive rate).
      A graphic means for assessing the ability of a screening test to discriminate between healthy and diseased persons; may also be used in other studies, e.g., distinguishing stimuli responses as to a faint stimuli or nonstimuli.
  • Rosenthal effect
    • Wikipedia
      The phenomenon where the expectations of the researchers in a study influence the outcome.
  • Run-in period
    • Wikipedia
      A period before randomization when participants are monitored but receive no treatment (or they sometimes all receive one of the study treatments, possibly in a blind fashion). The data from this stage of a trial are only occasionally of value but can serve a valuable role in screening out ineligible or non-compliant participants, in ensuring that participants are in a stable condition, and in providing baseline observations. A run-in period is sometimes called a washout period if treatments that participants were using before entering the trial are discontinued.
  • Rural health
    • MeSH
      The status of health in rural populations.
  • Rural health services
    • MeSH
      Health services, public or private, in rural areas. The services include the promotion of health and the delivery of health care.
  • Rural health
    • MeSH
      The status of health in rural populations.
  • Rural population
    • MeSH
      The inhabitants of rural areas or of small towns classified as rural.