Dowen Frances, Sidhu Karishma, Broadbent Elizabeth, Pilmore Helen
Department of Nephrology, Auckland City Hospital, 2 Park Road, Grafton, Auckland, 1023, New Zealand.
Department of Physiology, Auckland City Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand.
BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2017 Sep 21;17(1):137. doi: 10.1186/s12911-017-0536-z.
Mortality in end stage renal disease (ESRD) is higher than many malignancies. There is no data about the optimal way to present information about projected survival to patients with ESRD. In other areas, graphs have been shown to be more easily understood than narrative. We examined patient comprehension and perspectives on graphs in communicating projected survival in chronic kidney disease (CKD).
One hundred seventy-seven patients with CKD were shown 4 different graphs presenting post transplantation survival data. Patients were asked to interpret a Kaplan Meier curve, pie chart, histogram and pictograph and answer a multi-choice question to determine understanding.
We measured interpretation, usefulness and preference for the graphs. Most patients correctly interpreted the graphs. There was asignificant difference in the percentage of correct answers when comparing different graph types (p = 0.0439). The pictograph was correctly interpreted by 81% of participants, the histogram by 79%, pie chart by 77% and Kaplan Meier by 69%. Correct interpretation of the histogram was associated with educational level (p = 0.008) and inversely associated with age > 65 (p = 0.008). Of those who interpreted all four graphs correctly, there was an association with employment (p = 0.001) and New Zealand European ethnicity (p = 0.002). 87% of patients found the graphs useful. The pie chart was the most preferred graph (p 0.002). The readability of the graphs may have been improved with an alternative colour choice, especially in the setting of visual impairment.
Visual aids, can be beneficial adjuncts to discussing survival in CKD.
终末期肾病（ESRD）患者的死亡率高于许多恶性肿瘤。目前尚无关于向ESRD患者呈现预期生存信息的最佳方式的数据。在其他领域，图表已被证明比文字叙述更容易理解。我们研究了慢性肾脏病（CKD）患者对图表在传达预期生存方面的理解和看法。
向177名CKD患者展示了4种呈现移植后生存数据的不同图表。要求患者解读一条Kaplan Meier曲线、一个饼图、一个直方图和一个象形图，并回答一个多项选择题以确定理解程度。
我们测量了对图表的解读、有用性和偏好。大多数患者正确解读了图表。比较不同图表类型时，正确答案的百分比存在显著差异（p = 0.0439）。81%的参与者正确解读了象形图，79%的参与者正确解读了直方图，77%的参与者正确解读了饼图，69%的参与者正确解读了Kaplan Meier曲线。对直方图的正确解读与教育水平相关（p = 0.008），与年龄>65岁呈负相关（p = 0.008）。在正确解读所有四张图表的患者中，与就业情况（p = 0.001）和新西兰欧洲族裔（p = 0.002）有关。87%的患者认为图表有用。饼图是最受青睐的图表（p < 0.002）。选择其他颜色可能会提高图表的可读性，尤其是在视力障碍的情况下。
视觉辅助工具可作为讨论CKD患者生存情况的有益辅助手段。
