Meaning & use
hazard ratio
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountabletechnicalmedical
A statistic comparing how quickly an event, such as death or relapse, happens in one group of people compared with another.
Grammar: A countable noun: a hazard ratio of 0.7, two hazard ratios.
Patterns
- a hazard ratio of number
- hazard ratio for something
The trial reported a hazard ratio of 0.75 for patients taking the new drug.
A hazard ratio above 1 means the event happened faster in the treatment group.
Researchers calculated the hazard ratio for heart attack among smokers.
Word forms
| plural | hazard ratios |
|---|
Common combinations
- hazard ratio of
- The hazard ratio of 0.62 suggested a clear benefit.
- adjusted hazard ratio
- The adjusted hazard ratio accounted for age and sex.
- calculate the hazard ratio
- Statisticians calculate the hazard ratio from survival data.
- report a hazard ratio
- The paper reports a hazard ratio with a confidence interval.
- confidence interval for the hazard ratio
- The confidence interval for the hazard ratio included 1.
Synonyms and how they differ
- risk ratio
- Risk ratio compares the chance of an event over a whole period, while hazard ratio compares how fast it happens at any moment.
- odds ratio
- Odds ratio compares odds rather than rates over time, and is common in case-control studies.
- relative risk
- Relative risk is a more general idea, while hazard ratio is used in survival analysis.
Word family
Commonly confused: hazard ratio or hazard ratio vs odds ratio?
hazard ratio vs hazard ratio vs odds ratio
The hazard ratio compares event rates over time, while the odds ratio compares the odds of an event in two groups.
Practice
A study reports a hazard ratio of 1.0 between two groups. What does this suggest?
Choose one answer.
A hazard ratio of 1 means the rates are equal. A value below 1 would suggest lower risk, and above 1 higher risk.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hazard ratio”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.