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Evidence-Based Medicine recently published a thoughtful commentary by Montori et al,1 addressing the above question, prompted by the Australian Carbohydrate Intolerance Study in Pregnant Women (ACHOIS),2 which was abstracted in the same issue.3 The ACHOIS investigators compared a screen-and-treat programme for gestational diabetes with routine pregnancy care and used as their main end point a composite of 4 outcomes: shoulder dystocia, Duchenne-Erb palsy, fracture, and death—a natural choice given that a main purpose of gestational glycaemic control is to prevent the baby from being born too big. The topic is important and several points are worth noting.
Montori et al listed 3 questions to help decide the appropriateness of a composite outcome:
(a) Are the component …