Evidence map›Paper›PMID 19551490›Full record

ArticleTheoretical medicine and bioethics2009

Disclosure and rationality: comparative risk information and decision-making about prevention.

Peter H Schwartz

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Theoretical medicine and bioethics, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Comparative Risk: Good or Bad Heuristic?The American journal of bioethics : AJOB · 2016
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

Peter H SchwartzIndiana University Center for Bioethics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI), 410 W. 10th St., Suite 3100, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA. phschwar@iupui.edu

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

With the growing focus on prevention in medicine, studies of how to describe risk have become increasing important. Recently, some researchers have argued against giving patients "comparative risk information," such as data about whether their baseline risk of developing a particular disease is above or below average. The concern is that giving patients this information will interfere with their consideration of more relevant data, such as the specific chance of getting the disease (the "personal risk"), the risk reduction the treatment provides, and any possible side effects. I explore this view and the theories of rationality that ground it, and I argue instead that comparative risk information can play a positive role in decision-making. The criticism of disclosing this sort of information to patients, I conclude, rests on a mistakenly narrow account of the goals of prevention and the nature of rational choice in medicine.

Indexed as

Decision MakingPrimary PreventionRiskTruth DisclosureAntineoplastic Agents, HormonalAttitudeBreast NeoplasmsEstrogen Receptor ModulatorsFemaleHumansOdds RatioPatient Acceptance of Health CareTamoxifenAntineoplastic Agents, HormonalEstrogen Receptor ModulatorsTamoxifen

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.