Risk-Benefit Trade-Off

Risk-benefit trade-off refers to the balance of negative and positive effects on achieving a goal, such as health. For medical decisions, a risk-benefit trade-off usually refers to the perception of the anticipated balance of improvements and deteriorations in health from a given choice. For patients, caregivers, and policy makers, this can range from the balance of health in an individual to the overall balance of health experienced by a society. How trade-offs are considered is highly subjective. A risk-benefit trade-off can also consider goals outside of health.

Estimating Future Risk

Medical decisions allow for choices that can affect health. Risk can be defined as the extent to which deteriorations in health are perceived by a patient. Some medical scientists have suggested that risk be more appropriately labeled ...

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