Glossary

The NICE glossary provides brief definitions and explanations of terms used on the website. The terms describe how NICE works and how its guidance is produced.

Our glossary excludes specific clinical and medical terms. If you cannot find the term you are looking for, please email us so that we can consider adding it to the glossary.

Some definitions and examples are based on those in the HTAi consumer and patient glossary, with thanks to Health Technology Assessment International.

For terms used in social care, the Care and Support Jargon Buster from Think Local Act Personal is a useful guide to the most commonly used social care words and phrases, and what they mean.

• Early value assessment

  This approach allows rapid assessment of digital products, devices and diagnostics for clinical effectiveness and value for money. So, the NHS and patients can benefit from these promising technologies while more evidence is collected.

• Economic analysis

  Study or analysis of the cost of using and distributing health or social care resources.

• Economic evaluation

  An economic evaluation is used to assess the cost effectiveness of healthcare interventions (that is, to compare the costs and benefits of a healthcare intervention to assess whether it is worth doing). The aim of an economic evaluation is to help decision makers maximise the level of health benefits relative to the resources available. It should be used to inform and support the decision-making process; it is not supposed to replace the judgement of healthcare professionals.

  There are several types of economic evaluation: cost-benefit analysis, cost-consequence analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-minimisation analysis and cost-utility analysis. They use similar methods to define and evaluate costs, but differ in the way they estimate the benefits of a particular drug, programme or intervention.

• Economic modelling

  A way to estimate the costs and effects of an intervention over periods of time on patient groups not covered in a clinical trial or other research. An economic model is a mathematical structure that typically depicts a patient pathway. Modelling is usually done for 1 or more of the following reasons; trials are of insufficient duration; outcomes are reported differently by trials; no trials exist; trials do not contain all relevant comparators; cost and resource information is not included in trials.

• Effect size

  The observed association between interventions and outcomes, or a statistic to summarise the strength of the observed association.

• Effectiveness

  How beneficial a test or treatment is under usual or everyday conditions, compared with doing nothing or opting for another type of care.

• Efficacy

  How beneficial a test, treatment or public health intervention is under ideal conditions (for example, in a laboratory), compared with doing nothing or opting for another type of care.

• Empirical evidence

  Evidence that is based on experience (observation or an experiment) rather than on reasoning alone.

• End point

  An event or outcome that can be measured and is one of the target outcomes of the trial.

• Epidemiology

  The study of the causes, distribution, control and prevention of disease. Epidemiologists collect and examine medical data and spot health trends to establish which diseases are on the increase and where, which treatments and other activities work and which do not. (This includes activities to prevent disease and to improve health and wellbeing.) In other words, they consider the possible risk factors for a whole population or area, not just for individual patients.

• EQ-5D

  A standardised 5-dimensional instrument used to measure health outcomes. It is completed by the person having a treatment themselves and is quick to use.

• Estimand

  A precise description of the treatment effect investigated by a study. This includes the treatment, population, primary outcome of interest, and how intercurrent events will be handled.

• Evaluation

  An assessment of an intervention (for example, a treatment, service, project, or programme) to see whether it achieves its aims.

• Evaluation committee

  An independent committee that develops NICE’s technology appraisals guidance and highly specialised technologies guidance. It is made up of healthcare professionals and NHS managers, researchers, patient and carer organisations, patients or their carers, people who work for drug companies and medical equipment manufacturers.

• Event rate

  The proportion of people in a group who have a specific experience (for example, whose symptoms become less severe). This could also be described as a result or event. If 27 out of 100 people have the experience, the event rate is 0.27 or 27%. The terms 'control event rate' and 'experimental event rate' may be used to describe control and experimental groups respectively.

• Evidence

  Information on which a decision or guidance is based. Evidence can be obtained from a range of sources, including randomised controlled trials, observational studies and expert opinion (for example, healthcare and other professionals, people using services, family members and carers).

• Evidence review group

  For single technology appraisals and highly specialised technology appraisals, a group of researchers that reviewed the company's submission about a drug or other treatment, carried out exploratory analyses using the company's economic model, and produced a report for the appraisal or evaluation committee. Now called an external assessment group.

• Evidence standards framework for digital health technologies

  This framework aims to ensure new digital health technologies are clinically effective and offer value to the health and care system. It guides developers through how to generate high quality evidence.

• Evidence statement

  A brief summary of the key findings from a review of evidence.

• Evidence summaries on medicines

  Quality-assured reviews of the evidence for the clinical effectiveness of medicines within a therapeutic class or indication to provide advice on the relative position of each medicine as a therapeutic option. NICE no longer produces these evidence summaries, but exsting summaries are still available.

• Evidence summaries on new medicines

  Quality-assured summaries of the best available evidence for new medicines, or existing medicines with new indications or a new formulation. They help commissioners, budget holders and groups such as Area Prescribing Committees make informed decisions and aid local planning on the introduction of key new medicines. NICE no longer produces these evidence summaries, but existing summaries are still available.

• Evidence summaries on unlicensed and off-label medicines

  Quality-assured summaries of the best available evidence for selected unlicensed and off-label medicines. They allow evidence-based prioritisation, treatment and funding decisions to be made in cases where there are no clinically appropriate licensed alternatives. NICE no longer produces these evidence summaries, but existing summaries are still available.

• Evidence table

  A table summarising the results of studies that, taken together, provide the evidence in NICE guidance.

• Experimental study

  A study in which the people taking part are sorted into 2 or more groups. At least 1 will be a control group. All groups are then followed up under carefully controlled conditions to investigate whether or not a test or treatment affects the course or outcome of a condition or disease. A controlled clinical trial and randomised controlled trial are examples of experimental studies.

• Experimental treatment

  A new treatment (for example, a new drug) that is being studied to see whether it has an effect on the course or outcome of a condition or disease.

• Extended brief intervention

  An extended brief intervention is similar in content to a brief intervention but usually lasts more than 30 minutes and consists of an individually-focused discussion. It can involve a single session or multiple brief sessions.

• Extended dominance

  See dominance

• External Assessment Centres

  Organisations, including the NHS and academic bodies, that are chosen by public tender and must meet quality control requirements. The centres provide independent assessments of the evidence and produce assessment reports for the committee. The centres have knowledge of and expertise in appropriate methods of evaluation.

• External assessment group

  An independent academic group that reviews the evidence, including any stakeholder submissions, and the clinical and cost effectiveness, or cost comparisons of the technology or technologies being evaluated. It develops an external assessment report for the committee.

• External control

  A control group that comes from different a dataset or study than the group that received the intervention of interest.

• External validity

  See Validity

• Extrapolation

  In data analysis, predicting the value of a parameter outside the range of observed values.