The news reports that the relative risk for contracting a deadly new disease is increased 65 percent if you are left-handed.Being a lefty yourself, what should you check first before becoming alarmed?
A) confidence intervals for the study
B) number of people in the general population who are left-handed
C) base rate of the occurrence of the disease in the general population
D) where the nearest emergency room is located

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Checking the base rate of the occurrence of the disease in the general population will give context to the reported relative risk increase. If the disease is very rare in the general population, a 65% increase in risk may still only result in a very small absolute risk increase for left-handed individuals. Additionally, it is always important to consider the sample size and confidence intervals for any study, but these factors are not mentioned in the given information. The number of left-handed individuals in the general population and the location of the nearest emergency room are not relevant to assessing the validity of the reported risk increase.

The News Reports That the Relative Risk for Contracting a Deadly