Arab Board Family Medicine Clinical key terms

The number of patients who must receive an intervention for one additional patient to gain the desired outcome; it is the reciprocal of the absolute risk reduction, so larger values indicate smaller benefit.

The arithmetic difference in event rates between a control group and a treated group, expressed as a percentage or proportion; it reflects the true clinical impact of a treatment rather than its proportional effect.

The ratio of the risk of an outcome in an exposed or treated group to the risk in an unexposed or control group; it describes proportional change but can overstate benefit when baseline risk is low.

A range of values, calculated from sample data, within which the true population value is likely to lie at a stated probability, usually 95%; it conveys both the size and the precision of an estimate.

The probability of observing a result at least as extreme as that found, assuming the null hypothesis is true; it indicates statistical significance but not the size or clinical importance of an effect.

Falsely rejecting a true null hypothesis, that is, concluding a difference exists when none does; its probability is set by the significance level, conventionally 0.05 (alpha).

Failing to reject a false null hypothesis, that is, missing a real difference; its probability is beta, and one minus beta equals the study's statistical power.

The probability that a study will detect a true difference of a specified size if one exists; it depends on sample size, effect size, and variability, and is conventionally set at 80% or higher.

Analysing participants according to the group to which they were originally randomised, regardless of adherence or crossover; it preserves randomisation and gives a pragmatic, real-world estimate of effectiveness.

An experimental study in which participants are allocated by chance to intervention or control groups; randomisation balances known and unknown confounders and is the strongest design for establishing causation.

Distortion of the association between an exposure and an outcome by a third variable that is related to both; it can create, exaggerate, or mask a true relationship and must be addressed by design or analysis.

Systematic error arising when the participants studied, or the way they are allocated to groups, differ from the target population in ways that affect the outcome; it threatens the generalisability and internal validity of findings.

Sensitivity is the proportion of people with disease who test positive; specificity is the proportion without disease who test negative. Both describe test performance independently of disease prevalence in the population.

The probability that a person with a positive test result truly has the disease; unlike sensitivity, it depends strongly on disease prevalence, so it falls when the condition is rare.

The ratio of the probability of a given test result in people with disease to that in people without disease; it summarises how much a result shifts the probability of disease and is prevalence-independent.

A patient's voluntary authorisation for an intervention after receiving adequate information about its nature, benefits, risks, and alternatives, and after demonstrating capacity to understand and decide freely.

A patient's ability to understand relevant information, appreciate its consequences, reason about options, and communicate a consistent choice; it is assessed for a specific decision and can fluctuate.

The legal and ethical standard used to make decisions on behalf of a patient who lacks capacity, weighing benefits and burdens to choose the option that most serves that person's welfare and known values.

The professional duty to protect patient information from unauthorised disclosure; it may be overridden only with consent or when required by law or serious public interest, such as preventing imminent harm.

Any event or circumstance that could have caused, or did cause, avoidable harm to a patient; incidents include near misses and are reported to enable system learning rather than individual blame.

A structured, team-based method for investigating a serious adverse event to identify underlying system failures and contributory factors, then implement changes to prevent recurrence.

A quality improvement cycle that compares current practice against an agreed standard, identifies gaps, implements change, and re-audits to confirm improvement; unlike research, it does not test new hypotheses.

A small-scale, iterative improvement method in which a change is planned, tested, its results studied, and the findings acted upon; repeated cycles allow rapid, low-risk refinement of practice.

A test applied to apparently healthy people to detect unrecognised disease early, when treatment is more effective; it requires a suitable condition, an acceptable test, and evidence that early detection improves outcomes.

Apparent prolongation of survival after screening simply because disease is detected earlier, without any real delay in death; it can falsely suggest that screening extends life.

The tendency of screening to preferentially detect slow-growing, less aggressive disease, which has a better prognosis regardless of treatment; it exaggerates the apparent benefit of screening programmes.

Indirect protection of unvaccinated individuals that arises when a sufficiently high proportion of a population is immune, reducing transmission and interrupting chains of infection.

The system of temperature-controlled storage and transport that keeps vaccines within their required range from manufacture to administration, preserving potency and preventing avoidable vaccine failure.

A condition that clinicians are legally required to report to public health authorities so that surveillance, contact tracing, and outbreak control can be undertaken promptly.

A collaborative, person-centred counselling style that helps patients explore and resolve ambivalence about behaviour change by eliciting their own reasons for change rather than advising or persuading.

A framework describing behaviour change as progression through precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance; interventions are matched to the patient's current stage to reduce resistance.

A process in which clinician and patient exchange information about options, benefits, and the patient's values and preferences, then jointly agree on a management plan.

A structured approach to disclosing serious information, setting up the interview, assessing perception, obtaining invitation, giving knowledge, addressing emotions with empathy, and summarising strategy and follow-up.

Life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection; it requires prompt recognition, early antibiotics, and fluid resuscitation, and is a medical emergency.

Sepsis with persisting hypotension requiring vasopressors to maintain mean arterial pressure and a raised serum lactate despite adequate fluid resuscitation; mortality is high without urgent escalation.

A bedside screening tool for sepsis using three items: respiratory rate of 22 or more, altered mentation, and systolic blood pressure of 100 mmHg or less; two or more positive items prompt further assessment.

A pregnancy-specific disorder of new hypertension after 20 weeks' gestation with proteinuria or maternal organ dysfunction; it threatens mother and fetus and may progress to eclampsia.

The occurrence of generalised seizures in a woman with preeclampsia, in the absence of another cause; it is an obstetric emergency requiring airway support, magnesium sulfate, and delivery planning.

The drug of choice for preventing and treating eclamptic seizures; it requires monitoring of deep tendon reflexes, respiratory rate, and urine output for signs of toxicity.

A severe variant of preeclampsia characterised by haemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelets; it causes right upper quadrant pain and can occur without marked hypertension.

Excessive bleeding after childbirth, conventionally blood loss of 500 mL or more after vaginal delivery or 1000 mL after caesarean; uterine atony is the commonest cause and is managed with massage and uterotonics.

Failure to deliver the fetal shoulders after the head has emerged, requiring prompt manoeuvres such as the McRoberts position and suprapubic pressure to avoid fetal hypoxia and brachial plexus injury.

A structured sequence of warming, positioning, drying, stimulation, and if needed airway support and chest compressions for a newborn not breathing effectively at birth, guided by heart rate and breathing.

A rapid assessment at one and five minutes after birth scoring heart rate, respiratory effort, muscle tone, reflex irritability, and colour from 0 to 2 each; it guides resuscitation but does not predict long-term outcome.

A plotted reference of weight, length or height, and head circumference against age, used to detect faltering growth, obesity, or disproportionate measurements that may signal underlying disease.

Age-specific skills in gross and fine motor, language, social, and cognitive domains that most children achieve by a given age; persistent delay warrants structured assessment and early intervention.

A spectrum of myocardial ischaemia including unstable angina and myocardial infarction, typically presenting with chest pain; it requires urgent electrocardiography, troponin testing, and antiplatelet therapy.

A hyperglycaemic emergency with ketonaemia and metabolic acidosis, commonest in type 1 diabetes; management requires fluids, intravenous insulin, and careful potassium replacement.

Glycated haemoglobin reflecting average blood glucose over the preceding two to three months; it is used to diagnose and monitor diabetes but is unreliable in haemoglobinopathies and pregnancy.

A common mood disorder diagnosed by persistent low mood or anhedonia with functional impairment; the PHQ-9 is a validated nine-item tool that scores severity and supports monitoring of treatment response.

A structured enquiry into suicidal thoughts, plans, intent, means, and protective factors, combined with psychiatric history and social circumstances, to determine urgency and level of care.

An acute, fluctuating disturbance of attention and cognition usually caused by underlying physical illness, drugs, or withdrawal; it is often reversible and must be distinguished from dementia.

Infection developing at or near an operative incision within 30 days of surgery, or within a year if an implant is placed; prevention relies on asepsis, appropriate prophylaxis, and glycaemic control.

A set of practices, including hand hygiene, sterile gloves and drapes, and avoidance of contamination, used during invasive procedures to prevent introduction of microorganisms into susceptible sites.

Reversible loss of sensation in a defined area produced by agents such as lidocaine; safe use requires knowledge of maximum dose, avoidance of intravascular injection, and recognition of toxicity.

Documented agreement to a procedure after the clinician explains its purpose, technique, expected benefits, material risks, and alternatives, and confirms the patient understands and agrees voluntarily.