Timmermans Danielle, Molewijk Bert, Stiggelbout Anne, Kievit Job
Department of Social Medicine, EMGO Institute, VU University Medical Center, Van der Boechorststraat 7, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Patient Educ Couns. 2004 Sep;54(3):255-63. doi: 10.1016/S0738-3991(03)00238-6.
Effective communication of treatment risks is important to enable patients to make informed decisions. This study aimed to determine the effects of different risk formats on participants' evaluation and interpretation of risk information and on their treatment choice. Participants (N = 44) were recruited among patients who had undergone surgery for an abdominal aneurysm and were asked to evaluate treatment risks (surgery or an observation policy) of two hypothetical cases presented in one of three risk formats (numbers, vertical bars or icons). Risk information presented in vertical bars was evaluated as the most difficult to comprehend, and the perceived threat of this information was evaluated as higher than that of the other risk formats. Risk information presented as icons was evaluated as more helpful for making a decision, but resulted in a lower percentage of participants choosing for surgery than when risks were presented in the other formats. In conclusion, this study showed that different risk formats have different effects on participants' evaluation of the information and on their choice. Doctors should therefore be careful in choosing the format in which they present treatment risks.
有效地传达治疗风险对于使患者能够做出明智的决策非常重要。本研究旨在确定不同风险形式对参与者对风险信息的评估和解读以及对其治疗选择的影响。参与者（N = 44）是从接受过腹主动脉瘤手术的患者中招募的，他们被要求评估以三种风险形式（数字、竖条或图标）之一呈现的两个假设病例的治疗风险（手术或观察策略）。以竖条呈现的风险信息被评估为最难理解，并且该信息的感知威胁被评估为高于其他风险形式。以图标呈现的风险信息被评估为对做出决策更有帮助，但与以其他形式呈现风险时相比，选择手术的参与者比例更低。总之，本研究表明不同的风险形式对参与者对信息的评估及其选择有不同的影响。因此，医生在选择呈现治疗风险的形式时应谨慎。
