5 ways to help patients understand risk

Stop saying “rare.” Say “2 in 100.”

When a physician tells a patient that a side effect is “unlikely,” the intent is to reassure. But new research suggests vague descriptors like “rare,” “common” or “low risk” may leave patients with a skewed sense of what’s actually at stake — influencing their choices in unintended ways.

A study published April 29 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine argues that, when physicians avoid numerical estimates, patients often fill in the blanks and frequently overestimate the dangers. The study’s authors recommend five evidence-based strategies for presenting risk in clearer, more useful terms.

“One of the purposes of this paper is to help physicians figure out how to communicate numeric information about risks so that patients can understand and use them to make better choices, take charge of their health and be healthier long term,” said Ellen Peters, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Oregon and director of its Center for Science Communication Research.

Peters co-authored the paper with Paul K.J. Han, M.D., of the National Cancer Institute, and Clara N. Lee, M.D., of the University of North Carolina. The team’s goal was to give clinicians a set of tools to support more informed, collaborative decision-making.