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Relative Risk Calculator with 95% Confidence Interval

Calculate Relative Risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval from a 2×2 contingency table. For cohort studies, RCTs, and intervention evaluations.

Relative Risk (RR) - also called Risk Ratio - compares the probability of an outcome between an exposed group and an unexposed group. It is the primary effect measure for cohort studies and randomised controlled trials. Enter the four cells of your 2×2 table below; the calculator returns RR with 95% CI, Risk Difference, NNT/NNH, Attributable Risk, and a chi-square significance test.

Enter counts from your 2×2 contingency table. All four cells must be whole numbers ≥ 1.

Outcome +Outcome −Total
Exposed
Unexposed
Total
Interpreting Relative Risk
RR valueInterpretation
RR = 1.0No association - outcome risk identical in both groups
RR > 1.0Increased risk in exposed group
RR < 1.0Protective effect - reduced risk in exposed group
95% CI includes 1.0Not statistically significant at p < 0.05
NNT (positive RD)Number needed to treat - one additional outcome per NNT exposed
NNH (negative RD)Number needed to harm - one extra adverse outcome per NNH exposed

Source: Szklo M, Nieto FJ. Epidemiology: Beyond the Basics, 4th ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2019. Chi-square p-value approximated via incomplete gamma function (Abramowitz & Stegun method).