Original PCS work samples
See the reasoning.
Read the work.
Writing and review demonstrations for prospective clients. These are original educational examples, not client projects or findings about a real treatment.
Clinical writing demonstration
Keep absolute risk
beside relative benefit.
Audience: healthcare professionals
A relative risk reduction describes a proportional difference between groups. It does not establish the size of the absolute difference or predict an individual patient’s outcome.
Consider an explicitly hypothetical comparison: two groups of 1,000 people are followed for one year, with complete follow-up and each person counted at most once for the outcome. The outcome occurs in 40 people in Group A and 20 in Group B. The corresponding risks are 4% and 2%: an absolute reduction of 2 percentage points and a relative reduction of 50%.
Now consider a separate hypothetical comparison with four events in one group and two in the other, again among 1,000 people per group over one year. The relative reduction is still 50%, but the absolute reduction is 0.2 percentage points: 0.4% minus 0.2%.
The shared relative estimate conceals an important difference in absolute event frequency. A useful summary retains both measures and identifies the population, outcome, comparator, and timeframe.
These calculations do not establish statistical significance, precision, causal effects, or benefit for a particular patient. A real manuscript needs its design, uncertainty, missing-data handling, harms, and applicability assessed on their own merits.
Patient education demonstration
What does
“half the risk” mean?
Audience: patients and caregivers
A headline saying “half the risk” can sound like the whole answer. One useful next question is: half of what?
Imagine two groups of 1,000 people followed for one year. In one group, 40 people have the outcome being measured. In the other, 20 people do. That is 20 fewer people out of 1,000—or a change from 4 in 100 to 2 in 100. It can also be described as a 50% relative reduction.
In a different example, the numbers might be four people compared with two, out of 1,000 in each group. That is also a 50% relative reduction, but the difference is two people out of 1,000.
Both examples are invented to explain the arithmetic. They are not results for a medicine and do not tell you which treatment to choose.
When reading a real study, look for who took part, what outcome was counted, and how long people were followed. Ask about possible harms as well as benefits. A result comparing groups does not promise what will happen to you.
Annotated review demonstration
A finding your team can act on.
Draft wording
“The treatment cuts everyone’s risk in half.”
Hypothetical context: a comparison of groups, not an established prediction for each person.
- Concern
- The claim turns a group comparison into an individual guarantee.
- Check
- Find the population, event counts, endpoint, and follow-up in the source.
- Recommended action
- Describe the actual comparison and its qualifications. Remove “everyone.”
- Open question
- Confirm the relevant source passage before approving replacement wording.
The source check remains open because no real study is being assessed. A commissioned finding should identify the actual passage and source, explain the concern, and state what remains unresolved.
Request a Review QuoteFocused brief demonstration
One question.
A bounded answer.
Question: Does a 50% relative risk reduction tell readers the absolute difference?
Finding: No. The same proportional reduction can accompany different absolute differences.
Basis: the explicitly hypothetical counts and arithmetic on this page. No literature search or clinical treatment comparison was performed for this demonstration.
Editorial action: request the event rates, population, outcome, and timeframe before approving a benefit summary.
Limit: this example explains a communication problem. A client evidence brief would define the actual research question, sources, search scope, findings, and limitations.
Background reading.
The demonstrations and calculations are original PCS examples. These resources provide broader communication and manuscript guidance.
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