When I search for the adverse effects of medications, what I usually find is a list of effects and their occurance rate. But it's evident that different medications cause adverse effects with different severity. How do I find information about the severity (in average)?
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2Are you asking about the severity of a particular adverse event? I think this is quite unlikely to be available unless that particular adverse event was studied intensely for a given medication (like if it is particularly common), or with very coarse granularity (for example, a study might differentiate between mild/severe).– Bryan Krause ♦Aug 27, 2019 at 20:43
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1I'm not sure I understand. Are you asking about severity of a horrific adverse effect like Stevens Johnson Syndrome vs. something simple like nausea, or are you asking about mild nausea vs. severe?– Carey Gregory ♦Aug 28, 2019 at 4:37
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1It seems you are looking for the severity of side effects of a particular drug or a group of drugs. Websites, like Drugs.com usually do not say "severe" headache, but some other online sources do - you just type "severe headache" + "a particular drug" in a search engine and you'll surely find something. It works for nitroglycerin, for example.– JanAug 28, 2019 at 9:08
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1Yes, to clarify, the way the studies typically work (simplifying of course) is they give some drug, and ask people "do you have a headache?" and some number say "yes." They're asking a bunch of other stuff at the same time so they don't get into specifics. For non life threatening side effects it's unlikely to be studied much further.– Bryan Krause ♦Aug 28, 2019 at 14:30
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1Yes, the studies done before drugs come out usually give the number of people experiencing symptoms while on medications vs. while on placebo, and if/how the symptom was significant. Of all the drug studies I've read (which isn't in the hundreds but more like the dozens), headache is the most common symptom and was reported at almost identical proportions in both groups, followed by nausea (similar numbers) which says something about self-reported symptoms. The side effects you really have to worry about are the ones the drug companies are trying to bury.– anongoodnurseAug 29, 2019 at 0:00
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