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deHype glossary

Plain-English evidence terms

A practical reference for the study-design, risk, statistics and evidence-quality language used in deHype reports, Topics and Learn guides.

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Relative risk A comparison of outcome risk between two groups, usually expressed as a ratio or percentage change. Absolute risk The actual chance of an outcome occurring in a defined group over a defined period. Observational study A study where researchers observe exposures and outcomes without assigning the intervention. Correlation A relationship where two variables tend to change together. Surrogate marker A measurement used as a stand-in for a direct patient-important outcome. Animal study Research performed in animals rather than humans.

Browse 110 definitions

Search terms, aliases and definitions. Try “risk”, “bias”, “RCT”, “mouse study” or “surrogate”.

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deHype terminology

Terms used inside deHype reports to describe claim strength, relevance and overstatement.

deHype terminology Actionability Whether evidence is strong and relevant enough to support a practical decision or behaviour change. Read definition deHype terminology Caveat A limitation or caution that changes how confidently a result should be interpreted. Read definition deHype terminology Caveats Important limitations or qualifications that affect how a finding should be interpreted. Read definition deHype terminology Claim audit The comparison between what a public article implies and what the evidence directly supports. Read definition deHype terminology deHype grade A summary judgement of how well a public claim matches the evidence. Read definition deHype terminology Directness How closely the evidence matches the claim, population, intervention and outcome being discussed. Read definition deHype terminology Evidence grade A concise deHype judgement on how strongly the source chain supports the public claim. Read definition deHype terminology Evidence report A deHype page that compares a public claim with the underlying evidence. Read definition deHype terminology Evidence strength How much confidence the available evidence can reasonably support. Read definition deHype terminology Evidence trail The sequence of sources and evidence used to assess a claim. Read definition deHype terminology Request cap A limit on how many checks or requests a user can make in a given period. Read definition deHype terminology Safer interpretation A more cautious version of a claim that better fits the evidence. Read definition deHype terminology Source chain The path from a public claim back through media, press release and original evidence. Read definition

Evidence quality

Concepts that affect how much confidence to place in a study or public claim.

Evidence quality Adverse event An unwanted health event occurring during a study or treatment period. Read definition Evidence quality Association A statistical relationship between an exposure and an outcome without proving cause. Read definition Evidence quality Bias A systematic error that can push study results away from the truth. Read definition Evidence quality Biomarker A measurable biological signal used to indicate a process, exposure, disease or response. Read definition Evidence quality Causation A relationship where one factor directly contributes to producing an outcome. Read definition Evidence quality Clinical endpoint A real-world patient outcome such as symptoms, disease events, function, or survival. Read definition Evidence quality Conflict of interest A financial, professional or personal interest that could influence study design, interpretation or reporting. Read definition Evidence quality Confounder A third factor that can distort the apparent relationship between an exposure and an outcome. Read definition Evidence quality Confounding When another factor partly or fully explains an apparent association. Read definition Evidence quality Correlation A relationship where two variables tend to change together. Read definition Evidence quality Dose-response relationship A pattern where greater exposure is linked to greater or lesser effect. Read definition Evidence quality External validity The extent to which findings apply to real-world populations and settings. Read definition Evidence quality Funding source The organisation or body that paid for, sponsored or supported a study. Read definition Evidence quality Generalisability How well study findings apply beyond the specific people, settings and conditions studied. Read definition Evidence quality Heterogeneity Variation between studies, participants, interventions, or results. Read definition Evidence quality Internal validity How well a study design and conduct support a trustworthy answer for its own participants. Read definition Evidence quality Lead-time bias The appearance of longer survival because disease is detected earlier, not because death is delayed. Read definition Evidence quality Mechanism A proposed biological explanation for how something might work. Read definition Evidence quality Mechanistic evidence Evidence about how something might work biologically, rather than whether it improves outcomes. Read definition Evidence quality Patient-important outcome An outcome that directly matters to patients, such as symptoms, function, admission or survival. Read definition Evidence quality Publication bias Distortion caused when positive or striking studies are more likely to be published than negative studies. Read definition Evidence quality Recall bias Bias caused when people remember past exposures or events inaccurately or differently between groups. Read definition Evidence quality Reporting bias Distortion caused when some measured outcomes or analyses are selectively reported. Read definition Evidence quality Reverse causation When the apparent outcome may actually influence the exposure, reversing the assumed direction. Read definition Evidence quality Selection bias Bias caused by who enters, remains in or is analysed in a study. Read definition Evidence quality Surrogate marker A measurement used as a stand-in for a direct patient-important outcome. Read definition

Evidence synthesis

Plain-English evidence language used across deHype reports and guides.

Evidence synthesis Meta-analysis A statistical synthesis combining results from multiple studies. Read definition Evidence synthesis Narrative review A review that summarises literature without fully systematic search and selection methods. Read definition Evidence synthesis Systematic review A structured review using pre-specified methods to identify and appraise relevant studies. Read definition Evidence synthesis Umbrella review A review of systematic reviews, often used to map a broad evidence area. Read definition

Media and headline framing

Plain-English evidence language used across deHype reports and guides.

Media and headline framing Breakthrough A media term often used for a finding that may or may not be practice-changing. Read definition Media and headline framing Cherry-picking Selecting evidence that supports a claim while ignoring less favourable evidence. Read definition Media and headline framing Extrapolation Applying a finding beyond the population, setting, dose, or outcome actually studied. Read definition Media and headline framing Headline claim The main public-facing claim made or implied by an article title or summary. Read definition Media and headline framing Hype Presentation that makes evidence sound more certain, dramatic, or useful than it is. Read definition Media and headline framing Overclaim A claim that goes beyond what the evidence can support. Read definition Media and headline framing Preliminary finding An early result that needs confirmation before strong conclusions are drawn. Read definition Media and headline framing Translational gap The distance between early research findings and real-world clinical use. Read definition

Publishing and evidence

Plain-English evidence language used across deHype reports and guides.

Publishing and evidence Peer review Editorial assessment by other experts before or after publication. Read definition Publishing and evidence Preprint A research manuscript shared publicly before completion of formal peer review. Read definition Publishing and evidence Press release A promotional or explanatory summary issued by a university, journal, company or organisation. Read definition Publishing and evidence Replication Repeating a finding in an independent study or dataset. Read definition Publishing and evidence Retraction A formal withdrawal of a published paper because its findings should no longer be relied on. Read definition

Statistics and risk

Numbers that can make a result look larger, smaller or more certain than it really is.

Statistics and risk Absolute risk The actual chance of an outcome occurring in a defined group over a defined period. Read definition Statistics and risk Absolute risk reduction The arithmetic difference in event rates between two groups. Read definition Statistics and risk Adjustment A statistical attempt to account for other measured factors. Read definition Statistics and risk Baseline risk The starting risk of an outcome before an intervention, exposure or comparison is considered. Read definition Statistics and risk Clinical significance Whether a result is large and relevant enough to matter to patients or practice. Read definition Statistics and risk Confidence interval A range of values that expresses statistical uncertainty around an estimate. Read definition Statistics and risk Effect size The magnitude of a difference, association or treatment effect. Read definition Statistics and risk Hazard ratio A time-to-event measure comparing the rate at which an outcome occurs between groups over follow-up. Read definition Statistics and risk Incidence The number of new cases occurring in a population over time. Read definition Statistics and risk Intention-to-treat analysis An analysis that keeps participants in their originally assigned groups. Read definition Statistics and risk Multiple comparisons The problem that testing many outcomes or groups increases the chance of a false-positive result. Read definition Statistics and risk Number needed to harm The number of people exposed to an intervention for one additional person to be harmed. Read definition Statistics and risk Number needed to treat The number of people who need an intervention for one additional person to benefit. Read definition Statistics and risk Odds ratio A comparison of odds between groups, often used in case-control studies and logistic regression. Read definition Statistics and risk P value A statistical measure of how compatible the observed data are with a no-effect hypothesis. Read definition Statistics and risk Per-protocol analysis An analysis including only participants who sufficiently followed the study protocol. Read definition Statistics and risk Post hoc analysis An analysis decided after looking at the data rather than specified in advance. Read definition Statistics and risk Prevalence How common a condition is in a population at a given time. Read definition Statistics and risk Regression analysis A statistical method used to estimate relationships while accounting for other variables. Read definition Statistics and risk Relative risk A comparison of outcome risk between two groups, usually expressed as a ratio or percentage change. Read definition Statistics and risk Relative risk reduction The percentage reduction in risk compared with another group. Read definition Statistics and risk Risk ratio A measure showing how many times more or less likely an outcome is in one group than another. Read definition Statistics and risk Statistical power The ability of a study to detect an effect of a specified size if it truly exists. Read definition Statistics and risk Statistical significance A threshold-based label suggesting a result is unlikely under a specified no-effect model. Read definition Statistics and risk Subgroup analysis An analysis testing whether results differ within a smaller defined group. Read definition

Study design

Terms that describe how research was designed, who was studied and how directly the evidence applies to people.

Study design Allocation concealment Protecting the randomisation process so group assignment cannot be predicted or manipulated. Read definition Study design Animal model Research using animals to explore disease biology or treatment effects before human evidence exists. Read definition Study design Animal study Research performed in animals rather than humans. Read definition Study design Blinding Keeping participants, clinicians or assessors unaware of group assignment to reduce bias. Read definition Study design Case series A descriptive report of several patients or events without a formal comparison group. Read definition Study design Case-control study An observational study comparing people with an outcome to people without it, looking back for exposures. Read definition Study design Cell study Research performed in cells grown or tested outside the body. Read definition Study design Cohort study An observational study following people over time to compare outcomes by exposure or characteristic. Read definition Study design Composite endpoint An endpoint that combines several outcomes into one measure. Read definition Study design Control group The comparison group used to judge what would happen without the tested exposure or intervention. Read definition Study design Cross-sectional study A study measuring exposure and outcome at a single point in time. Read definition Study design Endpoint A measured outcome used to judge the effect of an exposure or intervention. Read definition Study design In vitro Research performed outside a living organism, often in cells or test tubes. Read definition Study design In vitro study Research performed outside a living organism, often in cells, tissue or laboratory systems. Read definition Study design In vivo Research performed inside a living organism. Read definition Study design Mechanistic study Research exploring how a biological process might work. Read definition Study design Mouse model A study system using mice to investigate biology, disease or treatment ideas. Read definition Study design Non-inferiority trial A trial designed to test whether a new intervention is not unacceptably worse than a comparator. Read definition Study design Observational study A study where researchers observe exposures and outcomes without assigning the intervention. Read definition Study design Phase 1 trial An early human trial mainly assessing safety, dosing and tolerability. Read definition Study design Phase 2 trial A mid-stage trial exploring whether an intervention shows enough activity to justify larger testing. Read definition Study design Phase 3 trial A larger confirmatory trial designed to test effectiveness and safety for clinical use. Read definition Study design Pilot study A small early study used to test feasibility or refine methods. Read definition Study design Placebo An inactive comparison designed to look or feel like the intervention being tested. Read definition Study design Placebo-controlled trial A trial where one group receives an inactive comparison treatment. Read definition Study design Protocol A pre-specified plan for how a study will be conducted and analysed. Read definition Study design Randomisation Assigning participants to groups by chance to reduce systematic differences between groups. Read definition Study design Randomised controlled trial A study assigning participants to intervention and comparison groups by chance. Read definition Study design Sample size The number of participants, samples or observations included in a study. Read definition