Epidemiological Evidence
Use at Your ‘Own Risk’
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10704155 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jonathan Fuller (0000-0002-7598-9808, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 87 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 1119-1129 |
| Publication date | 2020-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Philosophy of Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0031-8248 • E-ISSN: 1539-767X |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1086/710540 |
| OpenAlex | W3014451664 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 12 |
What meaning does epidemiological evidence have for the individual? In evidence-based medicine, epidemiological evidence measures the patient’s risk of the outcome or the change in risk due to an intervention. The patient’s risk is commonly understood as an individual probability. The problem of understanding epidemiological evidence and risk thus becomes the challenge of interpreting individual patient probabilities. I argue that the patient’s risk is interpreted ontically, as a propensity. After exploring formidable problems with this interpretation in the medical context, I propose an epistemic reinterpretation of individual patient probabilities as credences. On this view, epidemiological evidence informs medical uncertainty
Context (archaeology) · Epistemology · Interpretation (philosophy) · Meaning (existential) · Pathology · Perspective (graphical) · Reinterpretation · Scientific evidence · Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills · Computer Science · Epidemiology · Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life · History · Medicine · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Psychology
| Citations per year | 1.25 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Highly cited | No |