Page 713 - 16Neonatal Jaundice_compressed

Abbreviations, glossary and references

Quasi experimental study A study designed to test if a treatment or intervention has an effect on
the course or outcome of disease. It differs from a controlled clinical
trial and a randomised controlled trial in that:
a) the assignment of patients to treatment and comparison groups is
not done randomly, or patients are not given equal probabilities of
selection, or b) the investigator does not have full control over the
allocation and/or timing of the intervention, but nonetheless conducts
the study as if it were an experiment, allocating subjects to treatment
and comparison groups.
Random allocation/Randomisation A method that uses the play of chance to assign participants to
comparison groups in a research study, for example, by using a
random numbers table or a computer-generated random sequence.
Random allocation implies that each individual (or each unit in the
case of cluster randomisation) being entered into a study has the
same chance of receiving each of the possible interventions.
Randomised controlled trial A study to test a specific drug or other treatment in which people are
randomly assigned to two (or more) groups: one (the experimental
group) receiving the treatment that is being tested, and the other (the
comparison or control group) receiving an alternative treatment, a
placebo (dummy treatment) or no treatment. The two groups are
followed up to compare differences in outcomes to see how effective
the experimental treatment was. (Through randomisation, the groups
should be similar in all aspects apart from the treatment they receive
during the study.)
Receiver operating characteristic curve A curve can be used to evaluate the goodness of fit for a binary
classifier. It is a plot of the true positive rate (rate of events that are
correctly predicted as events) against the false positive rate (rate of
nonevents predicted to be events) for the different possible cutpoints
Retrospective study A retrospective study deals with the present/past and does not involve
studying future events. This contrasts with studies that are
prospective.
Review Summary of the main points and trends in the research literature on a
specified topic. A review is considered non-systematic unless an
extensive literature search has been carried out to ensure that all
aspects of the topic are covered and an objective appraisal made of
the quality of the studies.
Rhesus A blood group system which comprises the Rhesus antigens
Riboflavin Vitamin B2
Risk ratio Ratio of the risk of an undesirable event or outcome occurring in a
group of patients receiving experimental treatment compared with a
comparison (control) group. The term relative risk is sometimes used
as a synonym of risk ratio.
Royal Colleges In the UK medical/nursing world the term royal colleges, as for
example in ‘The Royal College of….’, refers to organisations which
usually combine an educational standards and examination role with
the promotion of professional standards.
Safety netting The provision of support for patients in whom the clinician has some
uncertainty as to whether the patient has a self-limiting illness and is
concerned that their condition may deteriorate. Safety netting may
take a number of forms, such as dialogue with the patient or carer
about symptoms and signs to watch for, advice about when to seek
further medical attention, review after a set period, and liaising with
other healthcare services
Sclerae The whites of the eyes (singular sclera)

507