ReviewJournal of medical ethics2006
How should public health professionals engage with lay epidemiology?
Review in Journal of medical ethics, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed.
- Public and professional stakeholders' perceptions of alcohol advertising and availability policies: A qualitative study.Drug and alcohol review · 2025Article
- Unpacking the Lay Epidemiology of Cervical Cancer: A Focus Group Study on the Perceptions of Cervical Cancer and Its Prevention among Women Late for Screening in Norway.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Revisiting Candidacy: What Might It Offer Cancer Prevention?International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Addressing the need for indigenous and decolonized quantitative research methods in Canada.SSM - population health · 2021Article
- What Low-income Smokers Have Learned from Public Health Pedagogy: A Narrative Inquiry.American journal of health behavior · 2019Article
- Government and public health responses to e-cigarettes in New Zealand: vapers' perspectives.Harm reduction journal · 2018Article
- "Lay epidemiology": an important factor in Danish parents' decision of whether to allow their child to receive a BCG vaccination. A qualitative exploration of parental perspective.BMC pediatrics · 2017Article
- Digital phenotyping and sociological perspectives in a Brave New World.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2017Article
- Lay epidemiology and the interpretation of low-risk drinking guidelines by adults in the United Kingdom.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2015Article
- Towards a Trans-national Industrial Hazard History: Charting the Circulation of Workplace Dangers, Debates and Expertise.British journal for the history of science · 2012Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
"Lay epidemiology" is a term used to describe the processes through which health risks are understood and interpreted by laypeople. It is seen as a barrier to public health when the public disbelieves or fails to act on public health messages. Two elements to lay epidemiology are proposed: (a) empirical beliefs about the nature of illness and (b) values about the place of health and risks to health in a good life. Both elements have to be dealt with by effective public health schemes or programmes, which would attempt to change the public's empirical beliefs and values. This is of concern, particularly in a context in which the lay voice is increasingly respected. Empirically, the scientific voice of standard epidemiology should be deferred to by the lay voice, provided a clear distinction exists between the measurement of risk, which is empirical, and its weighting, which is based on values. Turning to engagement with values, health is viewed to be an important value and is discussed and reflected on by most people. Public health professionals are therefore entitled and advised to participate in that process. This view is defended against some potential criticisms.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.