- #1
RabbitWho
- 153
- 18
Imagine that the chances in the USA of adult men having GAD are on average 1 in 100. But what of the subset of adult men who already have MD? What are the chances that such men will have GAD as well as MD? An odds ratio tells us about the increase in the chance that such men will have GAD, already having MD. If having MD increases the chances of having GAD from the usual 1 in 100 to 8.2 in 100, then the odds ratio for having GAD when you have MD is 8.2. If having MD has no effect at all on the chances of having GAD then the odds ratio is 1.00 (it does not affect the odds). An odds ratio of 1.05 means for the population of men with MD the chances of having GAD are increased by 5%. The further away from 1 the odds ratio is, the stronger the effect.
Ok, forgive me because I'm absolutely hopeless at numbers
This is out of 100, so I would have thought to increase the odds ratio which was previously 1, by 5% it would have to now be an odds ratio of 6
So if the 5% is suddenly turning into 0.05 of a whole, it must be 5% not of the current set of 100 but of a different set which this current set is a subset of.
I really don't understand how you are comparing across subsets like that and how Joe Bloggs, as a sufferer of MD, is supposed to figure out how much his chance of GAD has increased relative to what it was before he had MD
For the curious: MD = Major Depression, GAD = General Anxiety Disorder
Ok, forgive me because I'm absolutely hopeless at numbers
This is out of 100, so I would have thought to increase the odds ratio which was previously 1, by 5% it would have to now be an odds ratio of 6
So if the 5% is suddenly turning into 0.05 of a whole, it must be 5% not of the current set of 100 but of a different set which this current set is a subset of.
I really don't understand how you are comparing across subsets like that and how Joe Bloggs, as a sufferer of MD, is supposed to figure out how much his chance of GAD has increased relative to what it was before he had MD
For the curious: MD = Major Depression, GAD = General Anxiety Disorder