Understanding the results of medical tests: Why the representation of statistical information matters (2005)
Authors
Abstract
(from the chapter) The topic of this chapter is the representation of information on medical risks. As the case of mammography screening illustrates, the same information can be presented in various ways. The choice among alternative representations can influence patients' hopes and fears, risks and choices, and ultimately their behavior. For example, women were most likely to accept screening for cancer when the benefits of screening were presented as a relative risk reduction, less likely to do so when the absolute risk reduction was used, and least likely when the benefits were presented in terms of the numbers of women that need to be screened in order to save one life (Sarfati, Howden-Chapman, Woodward, & Salmond, 1998). This observation leaves us with a dilemma. According to Sarfati et al. (1998), health professionals have to make a choice. In order to enhance participation rates, they can either frame the benefits of screening in the most positive light, or they can present the information to reduce framing effects-for example, by expressing the benefits in a variety of forms. The authors contend that there may be a tension between these approaches. While the former is arguably manipulative, the latter may enhance informed choice but reduce participation rates in screening programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).
Bibliographic entry
Hoffrage, U., Kurzenhäuser, S., & Gigerenzer, G. (2005). Understanding the results of medical tests: Why the representation of statistical information matters. In R. Bibace, J. D. Laird, K. L. Noller, & J. Valsiner (Eds.), Science and medicine in dialogue: Thinking through particulars and universals (pp. 83- 98). Westport, CT: Praeger. (Full text)
Miscellaneous
| Publication year | 2005 | |
|---|---|---|
| Document type: | In book | |
| Publication status: | Published | |
| External URL: | http://library.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/ft/gg/GG_Understanding_2005.pdf View | |
| Categories: | ||
| Keywords: | *cancer screening*decision making*health education*health promotion*risk perceptionbreast neoplasmshealth behaviormammographypersuasive communicationrisk management |