Long COVID Atlas
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Plain-language first, with specialist detail below. For understanding, not medical advice.

Long COVID AtlasGlossary › Hazard ratio

Metric

Hazard ratio

https://longcovidatlas.org/glossary/hazard-ratio

In plain language

What it is

A way of comparing risk between two groups. A hazard ratio of 1.63 means one group had about 63 percent higher risk.

Why it matters

It tells you the relative size of a risk, but not the absolute chance, so it should be read alongside how common the event is.

Think of it like

A multiplier on risk. Useful, but a big multiplier on a tiny number is still a small number.

For specialists

Formal definition

The ratio of hazard rates between groups in a survival model; a relative, not absolute, measure of risk.

Related terms