What can I do with MyStudies?
MyStudies is a service which gives you easy access to clinical study data. Go ahead and see what we offer by taking a look at the studies:
- You can browse all the studies or you can use our full-text abstract search to refine the list
- The abstract and other publication information for each study is provided and if you follow the PubMed link, you may have access to the full article text (dependent on your institution's subscription)
The most useful part of MyStudies however is what we have done with the information.
For each study, you will:
- See the design aspects
- Find out how long the trial lasted, how many subjects were in the study and what they received
- Get the baseline demographics and lab value information to show you the types of people who were in the study
- See all the clinically important endpoints so you’ll know all the good and bad things that happened
- Get the numbers presented as absolute number, relative numbers and numbers needed to treat or harm
- Be able to choose to see only the results that were statistically significant using either 95% or 99% confidence intervals
FAQ
How does MyStudies calculate all the numbers?
Where possible we have taken the raw data (number of subjects and the number of subjects with any of the outcomes) from each study. While most study publications present results as number of subjects with an event, some publications only present the outcome numbers as the number of events that occurred in each group. To be able to use the information in the MyStudies format we have assumed that each event listed occurs in one subject. For the risk confidence intervals, we use the Wilson Score Interval, apply it to the raw data and present it in a comprehensive and consistent format.
IN GENERAL, THE RESULTS DISPLAYED BY MYSTUDIES ARE OFTEN IDENTICAL TO OR VERY SIMILAR TO THE ACTUAL PUBLISHED RESULTS. HOWEVER FOR SOME STUDIES, ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH EXTENDED FOLLOW UP OR THOSE THAT CHOSE TO EXPRESS THE RESULTS AS EVENTS/PATIENT YEARS THERE WILL BE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HOW MYSTUDIES AND THE PUBLICATIONS EXPRESS THE RESULTS. ULTIMATELY THE RESULTS IN THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED THE AUTHORATATIVE RESOURCE.
How do you decide what studies to include?
We have a group of individuals who scan the major medical journals and add new studies as they become available. We’ve also gone back in time and chosen many of the key landmark trials that impacted practice. In addition, if there are others you want included please let us know and we’ll add them. Soon you’ll be able to add your own studies so you won't have to do any calculations.
What information is shown?
The absolute risk of each event in each group – and the numbers of subjects.
The absolute difference between treatment groups.
The relative difference between treatment groups.
The confidence intervals which represents a plausible range of values for the effect.
The numbers needed to treat or harm (NNT/NNH).
Future plans
In future versions you will be able to enter your own studies and their numerical analysis will be available to you. We plan to also allow you to export the information so you can use it in a Keynote or Powerpoint presentation. If you have ideas that you want to share with us, please use the red feedback tab at the bottom right or get in touch!