Time-dependent NNT — MCQs

10 questions
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Q1

A 66-year-old gentleman presents to a new primary care physician to establish care after a recent relocation. His past medical history is significant for gout, erectile dysfunction, osteoarthritis of bilateral knees, mitral stenosis, and diabetic peripheral neuropathy. He denies any past surgeries along with the use of any tobacco, alcohol, or illicit drugs. He has no known drug allergies and cannot remember the names of the medications he is taking for his medical problems. He states that he has recently been experiencing chest pain with strenuous activities. What part of the patient's medical history must be further probed before starting him on a nitrate for chest pain?

Q2

A researcher is trying to determine whether a newly discovered substance X can be useful in promoting wound healing after surgery. She conducts this study by enrolling the next 100 patients that will be undergoing this surgery and separating them into 2 groups. She decides which patient will be in which group by using a random number generator. Subsequently, she prepares 1 set of syringes with the novel substance X and 1 set of syringes with a saline control. Both of these sets of syringes are unlabeled and the substances inside cannot be distinguished. She gives the surgeon performing the surgery 1 of the syringes and does not inform him nor the patient which syringe was used. After the study is complete, she analyzes all the data that was collected and performs statistical analysis. This study most likely provides which level of evidence for use of substance X?

Q3

You are reading through a recent article that reports significant decreases in all-cause mortality for patients with malignant melanoma following treatment with a novel biological infusion. Which of the following choices refers to the probability that a study will find a statistically significant difference when one truly does exist?

Q4

Background: Beta-blockers reduce mortality in patients who have chronic heart failure, systolic dysfunction, and are on background treatment with diuretics and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors. We aimed to compare the effects of carvedilol and metoprolol on clinical outcome. Methods: In a multicenter, double-blind, and randomized parallel group trial, we assigned 1,511 patients with chronic heart failure to treatment with carvedilol (target dose 25 mg twice daily) and 1,518 to metoprolol (metoprolol tartrate, target dose 50 mg twice daily). Patients were required to have chronic heart failure (NYHA II-IV), previous admission for a cardiovascular reason, an ejection fraction of less than 0.35, and to have been treated optimally with diuretics and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors unless not tolerated. The primary endpoints were all-cause mortality, the composite endpoint of all-cause mortality, or all-cause admission. Analysis was done by intention to treat Findings: The mean study duration was 58 months (SD 6). The mean ejection fraction was 0.26 (0.07) and the mean age was 62 years (11). The all-cause mortality was 34% (512 of 1,511) for carvedilol and 40% (600 of 1,518) for metoprolol (hazard ratio 0.83 [95% CI 0.74-0.93], p = 0.0017). The reduction of all-cause mortality was consistent across predefined subgroups. Incidence of side effects and drug withdrawals did not differ by much between the 2 study groups. Which of the following represents the number of patients needed to treat to save one life?

Q5

A 57-year-old woman with type 2 diabetes mellitus comes to the physician for a follow-up examination. She previously had been compliant with her diet and medication but has had a 5-kg (11-lb) weight gain since the last visit 6 months ago. She reports that she often misses doses of her metformin. Her hemoglobin A1c is 9.8%. Which of the following is the most appropriate course of action?

Q6

A 55-year-old male is started on nitrate therapy for treatment of stable angina. He experiences significant and immediate relief of his symptoms within minutes of starting therapy. Approximately 48 hours after initiating this new medication, he notes return of chest pain and pressure with exertion that no longer responds to continued nitrate use. Which of the following 24-hour dosing schedules would most likely explain this patient's response to nitrate treatment?

Q7

An epidemiologist is evaluating the efficacy of Noxbinle in preventing HCC deaths at the population level. A clinical trial shows that over 5 years, the mortality rate from HCC was 25% in the control group and 15% in patients treated with Noxbinle 100 mg daily. Based on this data, how many patients need to be treated with Noxbinle 100 mg to prevent, on average, one death from HCC?

Q8

You are currently employed as a clinical researcher working on clinical trials of a new drug to be used for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Currently, you have already determined the safe clinical dose of the drug in a healthy patient. You are in the phase of drug development where the drug is studied in patients with the target disease to determine its efficacy. Which of the following phases is this new drug currently in?

Q9

In a randomized controlled trial studying a new treatment, the primary endpoint (mortality) occurred in 14.4% of the treatment group and 16.7% of the control group. Which of the following represents the number of patients needed to treat to save one life, based on the primary endpoint?

Q10

You are reviewing raw data from a research study performed at your medical center examining the effectiveness of a novel AIDS screening examination. The study enrolled 250 patients with confirmed AIDS, and 240 of these patients demonstrated a positive screening examination. The control arm of the study enrolled 250 patients who do not have AIDS, and only 5 of these patients tested positive on the novel screening examination. What is the NPV of this novel test?

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Time-dependent NNT MCQs | Number needed to treat/harm Questions - OnCourse