ArticlePrimary care respiratory journal : journal of the General Practice Airways Group2012
Impact of graphic format on perception of change in biological data: implications for health monitoring in conditions such as asthma.
Article in Primary care respiratory journal : journal of the General Practice Airways Group, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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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.
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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
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- How to step down asthma preventer treatment in patients with well-controlled asthma - more is not always better.Australian prescriber · 2022Review
- Systems Biology and Clinical Practice in Respiratory Medicine. The Twain Shall Meet.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2016Article
- A summary of the new GINA strategy: a roadmap to asthma control.The European respiratory journal · 2015Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundVariation in graphic format can substantially influence interpretation of data. Despite a large body of literature on the optimal design of graphs, little attention has been paid to the format of charts for health monitoring.
aimsThis study assessed the effect of aspect ratio (x:y ratio) and interconnecting lines on visual identification of change in biological data, such as during asthma exacerbations.
methodsEighty volunteers viewed 72 sets of six consecutive blocks of unidentified biological data, recording if each block of data was increasing, decreasing, or the same as the previous block. Three chart aspect ratios were examined (A, 5.2:1; B, 3.0:1; C, 1.1:1), with or without lines between data points. Datasets from lung function monitoring by asthma patients included a mild/moderate/severe fall ('exacerbation') or no exacerbation. False negative (missing true exacerbations) and false positive (identifying non-existent exacerbations) responses were calculated.
results84% of exacerbation blocks were correctly identified. There was a significant interaction between exacerbation severity and aspect ratio (p=0.0048). The most compressed chart (C) had the fewest false negative responses. Moderate falls were missed in 24%, 12%, and 5% of trials on charts A, B, and C, respectively (C vs A: adjusted relative risk 0.19 (95% CI 0.12 to 0.30)). False positive responses were infrequent (A, 2.5%; B, 3.8%; C, 8.3%), increasing slightly if data points were joined with lines (4.3% vs 5.1%, p=0.004) .
conclusionsCompressed charts can improve the visual detection of change in biological data by up to 80%. The aspect ratio of charts should be standardised to facilitate clinical pattern recognition.
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