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Table 10 Results for each concept for children at 1-year follow-up

From: Effects of the Informed Health Choices primary school intervention on the ability of children in Uganda to assess the reliability of claims about treatment effects, 1-year follow-up: a cluster-randomised trial

No.

Concept

Control schools

% correcta

No. of schools = 60

No. of children = 2844

Intervention schools

% correcta

No. of schools = 60

No. of children = 3943

Adjusted differenceb (95% CI)

ICCc

Odds ratio (95% CI)

 

Claims

     

1.1

Treatments may be harmful.

40.5%

(n = 1152)

64.6%

(n = 2547)

29.2%

(22.4–35.0%)

0.120

3.33

(2.50–4.35)

P < 0.00001

1.2

Personal experiences or anecdotes (stories) are an unreliable basis for assessing the effects of most treatments.

26.5%

(n = 753)

52.0%

(n = 2052)

30.0%

(24.5–34.2%)

0.119

3.85

(2.86–5.00)

P < 0.00001

1.3

A treatment outcome may be associated with a treatment, but not caused by the treatment.d

27.3%

(n = 776)

36.4%

(n = 1436)

11.2%

(6.4–15.2%)

0.087

1.69

(1.33–2.13)

P = 0.00002

1.4

Widely used treatments or treatments that have been used for a long time are not necessarily beneficial or safe.

26,3%

(n = 748)

54,4%

(n = 2144)

30.0%

(23.8–35.1%)

0,157

3.70

(2.70–5.00)

P < 0.00001

1.5

New, brand-named, or more expensive treatments may not be better than available alternatives.

48.9%

(n = 1392)

73.6%

(n = 2901)

28.1%

(22.2–34.5%)

0.088

3.33

(2.63–4.35)

P < 0.00001

1.6

Opinions of experts or authorities do not alone provide a reliable basis for deciding on the benefits and harms of treatments.

43.2%

(n = 1230)

67.6%

(n = 2664)

26.8%

(20.3–33.3%)

0.113

3.03

(2.33–4.00)

P < 0.00001

1.7

Conflicting interests may result in misleading claims about the effects of treatments.

37.0%

(n = 1051)

47.2%

(n = 1861)

10.8%

(5.5–15.9%)

0.077

1.56

(1.25–1.96)

0.00009

 

Comparisons

     

2.1

Evaluating the effects of treatments requires appropriate comparisons.

10.3%

(n = 294)

32.0%

(n = 1263)

24.2%

(21.1–26.2%)

0.148

5.56

(3.85–7.69)

P < 0.00001

2.2

A part from the treatments being compared, the comparison groups need to be similar (i.e., ‘like needs to be compared with like’).

12.1%

(n = 344)

29.3%

(n = 1155)

16.6%

(14.2–18.9%)

0.063

2.86

(2.33–3.57)

P < 0.00001

2.5

If possible, people should not know which of the treatments being compared they are receiving.

23.3%

(n = 664)

36.2%

(n = 1428)

15.1%

(11.4–18.8%)

0.070

2.13

(1.72–2.70)

P < 0.00001

3.1

Small studies in which few outcome events occur are usually not informative and the results may be misleading.

32.6%

(n = 928)

50.3%

(n = 1984)

20.5%

(15.8–25.3%)

0.082

2.38

(1.92–3.03)

P < 0.00001

4.1

The results of single comparisons of treatments can be misleading.

29.1%

(n = 827)

44.8%

(n = 1766)

17.6%

(12.4–22.2%)

0.096

2.17

(1.69–2.78)

P < 0.00001

 

Choices

     

5.1

Treatments usually have beneficial and harmful effects.

35.2%

(n = 1000)

50.8%

(n = 2004)

16.8%

(11.4–22.1%)

0.090

2.00

(1.59–2.56)

P < 0.00001

  1. aThere were two multiple-choice questions for each concept. The proportions are for the percentage of children who answered both questions correctly
  2. bThe adjusted difference is based on mixed models with a random effects term for the clusters and the stratification variables modelled as fixed effects, using logistic regression. The odds ratios from the logistic regressions have been converted to differences based on the intervention school proportions and the inverse of the odds ratios shown here
  3. cIntraclass correlation coefficient
  4. dThis concept was not included in the learning resources or counted in the average, pass or mastery scores
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Trials

ISSN: 1745-6215