Comparing different treatments is complicated by trials having different lengths of intervention and follow-up, non-standardization of endpoints, and diverse study populations. The figure reflects effects sizes for interventions from representative individual trials, and gives a feel for the relatively modest mortality benefits accrued.
The data for diuretics is even worse: they count as a ‘self-evident good’ – a patient who is treated in the emergency unit with furosemide which fixes acute pulmonary oedema clearly benefits from treatment; controlled trials are unlikely so this is a guess from observational data published long ago.
