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Evidence‐based medicine as Bayesian decision‐making
Author(s) -
Ashby Deborah,
Smith Adrian F. M.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
statistics in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.996
H-Index - 183
eISSN - 1097-0258
pISSN - 0277-6715
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0258(20001215)19:23<3291::aid-sim627>3.0.co;2-t
Subject(s) - evidence based medicine , bayesian probability , bayesian statistics , bayesian network , computer science , health care , medical statistics , management science , bayesian inference , data science , artificial intelligence , medicine , statistics , alternative medicine , mathematics , economics , pathology , economic growth
We review two recent trends: the emergence of evidence‐based medicine and the growing use of Bayesian statistics in medical applications. Evidence‐based medicine requires an integrated assessment of the available evidence, and associated uncertainty, but there is also an emphasis on decision‐making, for individual patients, or at other points in the health‐care system. This demands consideration of the values and costs associated with potential outcomes. We argue that the natural statistical framework for evidence‐based medicine is a Bayesian approach to decision‐making that incorporates an integrated summary of the available evidence and associated uncertainty with assessment of utilities. We outline a practical agenda for further development. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.