ArticleMedical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making2014
Numbers matter to informed patient choices: a randomized design across age and numeracy levels.
Article in Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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
37 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 83 citations in OpenAlex.
- Imprecision and Preferences in Interpretation of Verbal Probabilities in Health: a Systematic Review.Journal of general internal medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Potential negative impact of informing patients about medication side effects: a systematic review.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2018Pooled it
- Utilization of Continuous "Spinners" to Communicate Risk.Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making · 2017Trial
- The effect of public reporting presentation on patients' decision making: An experimental survey in Yunan Province, China.Medicine · 2017Trial
- Presenting Numeric Information with Percentages and Descriptive Risk Labels: A Randomized Trial.Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making · 2015Trial
- Communicating Numeric Risk Information to Patients.Journal of general internal medicine · 2025Article
- How Inclusive Are Patient Decision Aids for People with Limited Health Literacy? An Analysis of Understandability Criteria and the Communication about Options and Probabilities.Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making · 2025Article
- Exposure to subtle dominance cues activates the stress response and affects decision-making.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Numeric social-media posts engage people with climate science.PNAS nexus · 2024Article
- Clearing the air: evaluating institutions' social media health messaging on wildfire and smoke risks in the US Pacific Northwest.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Statistical Literacy in Hand and Upper-Extremity Patients.Journal of hand surgery global online · 2023Article
- Rates and predictors of methotrexate-related adverse events in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis: results from a nationwide UK study.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2022Article
- Evidence-based recommendations for communicating the impacts of climate change on health.Translational behavioral medicine · 2022Article
- Age differences in COVID-19 risk-taking, and the relationship with risk attitude and numerical ability.Royal Society open science · 2021Article
- Layperson Views about the Design and Evaluation of Decision Aids: A Public Deliberation.Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making · 2021Article
- The Unintended Consequences of Adverse Event Information on Medicines' Risks and Label Content.Pharmaceutical medicine · 2020Article
- Numeracy and memory for risk probabilities and risk outcomes depicted on cigarette warning labels.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2020Article
- Article
- How Do Women Interpret the NHS Information Leaflet about Cervical Cancer Screening?Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making · 2019Article
- Improving Communication in Breast Cancer Treatment Consultation: Use of a Computer Test of Health Numeracy.Journal of women's health (2002) · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHow drug adverse events (AEs) are communicated in the United States may mislead consumers and result in low adherence. Requiring written information to include numeric AE-likelihood information might lessen these effects, but providing numbers may disadvantage less skilled populations. The objective was to determine risk comprehension and willingness to use a medication when presented with numeric or nonnumeric AE-likelihood information across age, numeracy, and cholesterol-lowering drug-use groups.
methodsIn a cross-sectional Internet survey (N = 905; American Life Panel, 15 May 2008 to 18 June 2008), respondents were presented with a hypothetical prescription medication for high cholesterol. AE likelihoods were described using 1 of 6 formats (nonnumeric: consumer medication information (CMI)-like list, risk labels; numeric: percentage, frequency, risk labels + percentage, risk labels + frequency). Main outcome measures were risk comprehension (recoded to indicate presence/absence of risk overestimation and underestimation), willingness to use the medication (7-point scale; not likely = 0, very likely = 6), and main reason for willingness (chosen from 8 predefined reasons).
resultsIndividuals given nonnumeric information were more likely to overestimate risk, were less willing to take the medication, and gave different reasons than those provided numeric information across numeracy and age groups (e.g., among the less numerate, 69% and 18% overestimated risks in nonnumeric and numeric formats, respectively; among the more numerate, these same proportions were 66% and 6%). Less numerate middle-aged and older adults, however, showed less influence of numeric format on willingness to take the medication. It is unclear whether differences are clinically meaningful, although some differences are large.
conclusionsProviding numeric AE-likelihood information (compared with nonnumeric) is likely to increase risk comprehension across numeracy and age levels. Its effects on uptake and adherence of prescribed drugs should be similar across the population, except perhaps in older, less numerate individuals.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.