ARGUMENTATION - BETTER - 9

Source: NEJM - carenini@cs.pitt.edu

SPECIFIC QUESTION: What is the best therapy for benign prostatic hyperplasia?

PAPER CONCLUSIONS. In men with benign prostatic hyperplasia, terazosin was effective therapy, whereas finasteride was not, and the combination of terazosin and finasteride was no more effective than terazosin alone. (N Engl J Med 1996;335:533-9.)

COMMENTS:

• The Line chart is aligned with a table showing the number of patients in the different treatment groups as the experiment progressed. Notice how the key for the line graph is integrated with the table.
• In general, showing that something is better requires the existence of a shared utility model. In this simple specific case: the higher the symptom score the worst is the treatment.