Healthy Skepticism Library item: 20333

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Publication type: Journal Article

Forrow L, Taylor WC, Arnold RM.
Absolutely relative: how research results are summarized can affect treatment decisions.
Am J Med 1992; 92:(2):121-4
http://www.amjmed.com/article/0002-9343%2892%2990100-P/abstract

Abstract:

PURPOSE:

To determine whether alternative methods of presenting a contrast between the same two quantities in descriptions of research results could lead to different treatment decisions by physicians.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS:

We conducted a survey of practicing physicians and of faculty and fellows in training programs in clinical epidemiology and social science research methods. Each questionnaire presented results from a published study of either hypertension or hypercholesterolemia in two different ways: once as the relative change in the outcome rate and once as the absolute change in the outcome rate. We asked respondents to read each summary and indicate how the information contained in the summary would influence decisions about treatment.
RESULTS:

Of the 235 physicians who completed the questionnaire, 108 (46%) gave different responses to the same results presented in different ways. Of these, 97 (89.8%) indicated a stronger inclination to treat patients after reading of the relative change in the outcome rate (p less than 0.0001).
CONCLUSION:

The manner of presentation of results can influence physicians’ judgments about the treatment of patients.

Keywords:
Abstracting and Indexing as Topic/methods* Decision Making* Humans Hypercholesterolemia/therapy Hypertension/therapy Questionnaires Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic Research Design/statistics & numerical data* Therapeutics/methods* Treatment Outcome