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Perception of quantitative information for treatment decisions
D Feldman-Stewart1, N Kocovski, B A McConnell
1Department of Oncology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. deb@nip.psyc.queensu.ca
Summary
Patients understand health information best through specific visual formats. Numbers and systematic ovals excel for precise risk estimation, while bars and numbers aid in making treatment choices.
Area of Science:
- Health literacy
- Risk communication
- Visual perception
Background:
- Effective communication of health information, particularly treatment risks and benefits, is crucial for informed patient decision-making.
- Patients often struggle to accurately interpret numerical data and graphical representations of health probabilities.
- Understanding optimal data visualization formats can significantly improve patient comprehension and adherence.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify the most accurate and easily perceived formats for displaying health-related quantities to patients.
- To compare the performance of different visual formats (pie charts, bars, ovals, numbers) in patient comprehension tasks.
- To investigate the influence of color and context on the effectiveness of these formats.
Main Methods:
- Four experiments were conducted comparing six display formats: pie charts, vertical bars, horizontal bars, numbers, systematic ovals, and random ovals.
- Tasks included a choice task (larger/smaller judgments) and an estimate task (precise evaluation of quantities).
- The impact of blue-yellow color and a treatment-decision context was assessed.
Main Results:
- Different formats are optimal for different tasks: choice versus estimation.
- For choice tasks, vertical bars, horizontal bars, numbers, and systematic ovals performed equally well; pie charts and random ovals were less effective.
- For estimation tasks, numbers yielded the most accurate results, followed by systematic ovals; other formats were significantly less accurate.
- Color and context did not change the relative effectiveness of the formats.
Conclusions:
- The optimal format for presenting health probabilities depends on the cognitive task required (choice vs. estimation).
- Numbers and systematic ovals are superior for precise quantitative estimation.
- Bar charts and numbers are effective for comparative judgments in treatment decisions.
- Visual aids should be chosen carefully based on the specific communication goal to enhance patient understanding.