odds ratio

Meaning

1. 1nouncountabletechnical

   A statistic that compares how likely an event is in one group with how likely it is in another, by dividing one set of odds by the other.

   Grammar: Countable: an odds ratio, two odds ratios; often followed by of or for.

   Patterns

   • an odds ratio of something
   • the odds ratio for something

   The study reported an odds ratio of 2.5 for smokers.

   An odds ratio above 1 means the event is more likely in the first group.

   Researchers calculated the odds ratio for each treatment.

Word forms

Common combinations

calculate the odds ratio

We calculated the odds ratio from the table.

adjusted odds ratio

The adjusted odds ratio accounted for age.

an odds ratio of

They found an odds ratio of 1.8.

confidence interval for the odds ratio

The confidence interval for the odds ratio was wide.

high odds ratio

A high odds ratio suggests a strong link.

Synonyms and how they differ

risk ratio

A risk ratio compares probabilities directly, whereas an odds ratio compares odds, and the two differ when events are common.

relative risk

Relative risk is another name for the risk ratio, so it should not be treated as an exact synonym of odds ratio.

hazard ratio

A hazard ratio compares event rates over time, while an odds ratio compares odds at one point.

Word family

odds noun

the chance of one outcome compared with another

ratio noun

the relationship between two numbers

log odds noun

the logarithm of odds, used in logistic regression

Commonly confused: odds ratio or risk ratio?

Practice

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