{"title":"Effect and efficacy - on the function of models for the assessment of therapeutic efficacy.","authors":"W M Herrmann, U Kern","doi":"10.1055/s-2007-1017448","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Whilst the \"effect\" of a drug can be observed or deduced from observational data, the concept of \"therapeutic efficacy\" represents mainly a theoretical construction of a high degree of abstraction which is inconceivable without reciprocal combination with other theoretical constructs. The \"therapeutic efficacy\" of drugs can be investigated only via clinical-pharmacological or clinical models. Several examples are given. The strength of evidence of models is discussed as well as the necessity to continually test them empirically.</p>","PeriodicalId":19840,"journal":{"name":"Pharmacopsychiatria","volume":"16 2","pages":"50-6"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"1983-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1055/s-2007-1017448","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Pharmacopsychiatria","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1055/s-2007-1017448","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Whilst the "effect" of a drug can be observed or deduced from observational data, the concept of "therapeutic efficacy" represents mainly a theoretical construction of a high degree of abstraction which is inconceivable without reciprocal combination with other theoretical constructs. The "therapeutic efficacy" of drugs can be investigated only via clinical-pharmacological or clinical models. Several examples are given. The strength of evidence of models is discussed as well as the necessity to continually test them empirically.