The use of odds ratio in the large population-based studies: Warning to readers.

When researchers conduct large prospective studies, they provide results generating statistical analysis; therefore readers need considerable familiarity with descriptive and inferential statistics. If quantitative judgments are based on interpreting odds ratios as though they were relative risks, they are unlikely to be seriously in error. Because of the calculating method, the OR is often less precise than the RR in estimating the strength of an association, and this should definitely be kept in mind by anyone who reads and interprets the results of a large population based-study.