ArticleBMC family practice2011
How do family physicians communicate about cardiovascular risk? Frequencies and determinants of different communication formats.
Article in BMC family practice, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Taxonomies for synthesizing the evidence on communicating numbers in health: Goals, format, and structure.Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis · 2022Pooled it
- Imprecision and Preferences in Interpretation of Verbal Probabilities in Health: a Systematic Review.Journal of general internal medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Trial
- Communicating certainty via verbal probability phrases: comparing health contexts with no context.BMC primary care · 2025Trial
- Effectiveness of an Intervention Aimed at Improving Information for Patients with High Cardiovascular Risk: INFORISK Clinical Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Trial
- Trial
- A Proposed Framework to Aid Primary Care Clinicians in Promoting Cardiovascular Health.Journal of general internal medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Use of visual aids in general practice consultations: A questionnaire-based survey.PEC innovation · 2023Article
- Exploring education preferences of Australian women regarding long-term health after hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: a qualitative perspective.BMC women's health · 2021Article
- Development of a life expectancy table for individuals with type 1 diabetes.Diabetologia · 2021Article
- Coronary risk reduction intervention for siblings and offspring of patients with premature coronary heart disease: the CRISO study protocol for a randomised controlled pilot study.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2021Article
- Article
- Do people really prefer verbal probabilities?Psychological research · 2020Article
- Home enteral nutrition: Use of photo-elicitation to capture patient and caregiver experiences.Health science reports · 2018Article
- Article
- Does information form matter when giving tailored risk information to patients in clinical settings? A review of patients' preferences and responses.Patient preference and adherence · 2017Article
- Communicating Cardiovascular Disease Risk to People with Psoriasis: What Techniques do Practitioners Use?International journal of behavioral medicine · 2016Article
- A Conceptual Framework for Appropriateness in Surgical Care: Reviewing Past Approaches and Looking Ahead to Patient-centered Shared Decision Making.Anesthesiology · 2015Review
- Communicating cardiovascular disease risk: an interview study of General Practitioners' use of absolute risk within tailored communication strategies.BMC family practice · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPatients understand information about risk better if it is communicated in numerical or visual formats (e.g. graphs) compared to verbal qualifiers only. How frequently different communication formats are used in clinical primary care settings is unknown.
methodsWe collected socioeconomic and patient understanding data using questionnaires and audio-recorded consultations about cardiovascular disease risk. The frequencies of the communication formats were calculated and multivariate regression analysis of associations between communication formats, patient and general practitioner characteristics, and patient subjective understanding was performed.
resultsIn 73% of 70 consultations, verbal qualifiers were used exclusively to communicate cardiovascular risk, compared to numerical (11%) and visual (16%) formats. Female GPs and female patient's gender were significantly associated with a higher use of verbal formats compared to visual formats (p=0.001 and p=0.039, respectively). Patient subjective understanding was significantly higher in visual counseling compared to verbal counseling (p=0.001).
conclusionsVerbal qualifiers are the most often used communication format, though recommendations favor numerical and visual formats, with visual formats resulting in better understanding than others. Also, gender is associated with the choice of communication format. Barriers against numerical and visual communication formats among GPs and patients should be studied, including gender aspects. Adequate risk communication should be integrated into physicians' education.
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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.