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Alternate methods of framing information about medication side effects: incremental risk versus total risk of occurrence.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Zikmund-Fisher, BJ; Fagerlin, A; Roberts, TR; Derry, HA; Ubel, PA
Published in: Journal of health communication
March 2008

Communications of treatment risk, such as medication package inserts, commonly report total rates of adverse reactions (e.g., 4% get heartburn with placebo, 9% with medication). This approach, however, requires mental arithmetic to distinguish the incremental risk caused by medication (here, 5%) from the total post-treatment risk. In two Internet-administered survey experiments (N = 2,012 and 1,393), we tested whether explicitly reporting the incremental risk and framing it as the "additional risk" of complications influenced people's impressions of adverse event risks. Study 1 compared side-by-side displays of total risks against sequential presentations that highlighted the incremental risk, using both text and graphical formats. Results showed that incremental risk formats significantly lowered participants' worry about complications and reduced biases caused by varying the risk denominator. Study 2 unpacked this factor and showed that its effect on both perceived likelihood and worry derives primarily from the incremental risk framing rather than from sequential presentation. Explicitly reporting incremental risk statistics appears to facilitate recognition of how much risk already exists at baseline. Presenting adverse reaction risks in this manner may improve patient comprehension of the effects of treatment decisions and support effective risk communication.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Journal of health communication

DOI

EISSN

1087-0415

ISSN

1081-0730

Publication Date

March 2008

Volume

13

Issue

2

Start / End Page

107 / 124

Related Subject Headings

  • Risk Factors
  • Risk Assessment
  • Public Health
  • Patient Education as Topic
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Interviews as Topic
  • Internet
  • Humans
  • Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
 

Citation

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ICMJE
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Zikmund-Fisher, B. J., Fagerlin, A., Roberts, T. R., Derry, H. A., & Ubel, P. A. (2008). Alternate methods of framing information about medication side effects: incremental risk versus total risk of occurrence. Journal of Health Communication, 13(2), 107–124. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730701854011
Zikmund-Fisher, Brian J., Angela Fagerlin, Todd R. Roberts, Holly A. Derry, and Peter A. Ubel. “Alternate methods of framing information about medication side effects: incremental risk versus total risk of occurrence.Journal of Health Communication 13, no. 2 (March 2008): 107–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730701854011.
Zikmund-Fisher BJ, Fagerlin A, Roberts TR, Derry HA, Ubel PA. Alternate methods of framing information about medication side effects: incremental risk versus total risk of occurrence. Journal of health communication. 2008 Mar;13(2):107–24.
Zikmund-Fisher, Brian J., et al. “Alternate methods of framing information about medication side effects: incremental risk versus total risk of occurrence.Journal of Health Communication, vol. 13, no. 2, Mar. 2008, pp. 107–24. Epmc, doi:10.1080/10810730701854011.
Zikmund-Fisher BJ, Fagerlin A, Roberts TR, Derry HA, Ubel PA. Alternate methods of framing information about medication side effects: incremental risk versus total risk of occurrence. Journal of health communication. 2008 Mar;13(2):107–124.

Published In

Journal of health communication

DOI

EISSN

1087-0415

ISSN

1081-0730

Publication Date

March 2008

Volume

13

Issue

2

Start / End Page

107 / 124

Related Subject Headings

  • Risk Factors
  • Risk Assessment
  • Public Health
  • Patient Education as Topic
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Interviews as Topic
  • Internet
  • Humans
  • Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice