A new graphical format to communicate treatment effects to patients—A web‐based randomized controlled trial

Bibliographic Data

ID19507811
AuthorsJürgen Kasper (0000-0002-2879-6579, Department of Health and Caring Sciences Faculty of Health Sciences The Arctic University of Norway Tromsø Norway, corresponding author), Adrian van de Roemer (Institute on Didactics in Medicine Michelstadt Germany), Jana Pöttgen (0000-0002-6665-2154, Department of Neurology Institute for Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis University Medical Center Hamburg‐Eppendorf Hamburg Germany), Anne Christin Rahn (0000-0002-9051-3621, Universität Hamburg), Anne Rahn (Unit of Health Sciences and Education MIN Faculty University of Hamburg Hamburg Germany), Imke Backhus (Department of Neurology Institute for Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis University Medical Center Hamburg‐Eppendorf Hamburg Germany), Yasemin Bay (Department of Neurology Institute for Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis University Medical Center Hamburg‐Eppendorf Hamburg Germany), Sascha Köpke (0000-0003-4106-4919, Institute of Social Medicine and Epidemiology University of Lübeck Lübeck Germany), Christoph Heesen (0000-0001-8131-9467, Department of Neurology Institute for Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis University Medical Center Hamburg‐Eppendorf Hamburg Germany)
Year2017
Volume20
Issue4
Pages797-804
Publication date2017-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHealth Expectations (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1369-6513 • E-ISSN: 1369-7625
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/hex.12522
PMID27981688
OpenAlexW2563008822
LanguageEN
References cited27

Objective Patients making treatment decisions require understandable evidence‐based information. However, evidence on graphical presentation of benefits and side‐effects of medical treatments is not conclusive. The study evaluated a new space‐saving format, CLARIFIG (clarifying risk figures), aiming to facilitate accuracy of comprehension. Methods CLARIFIG displays groups of patients with and without treatment benefits as coloured sectors of a proportional bar graph representing in total 100 patients. Supplementary icons indicate the corresponding group's actual condition. The study used an application showing effects of immunotherapy intended to slow disease progression in multiple sclerosis ( MS ). In a four‐arm web‐based randomized controlled trial, CLARIFIG was compared to the reference standard, multifigure pictographs ( MFP ), regarding comprehension (primary outcome) and processing time. Both formats were presented as static and animated versions. People with MS were recruited through the website of the German MS society. Results Six hundred and eighty‐two patients were randomized and analysed for the primary end point. There were no differences in comprehension rates ( MFP static =46%, CLARIFIG static =44%; P =.59; MFP animated =23%, CLARIFIG animated =30%; P =.134). Processing time for CLARIFIG was shorter only in the animated version ( MFP static =162 seconds, CLARIFIG static =155 seconds; P =.653; MFP animated =286 seconds, CLARIFIG animated =189 seconds; P ≤.001). However, both animated versions caused more wrong answers and longer processing time than static presentation ( MFP static vs animated : P ≤.001/.001, CLARIFIG static vs animated : P =.027/.017). Conclusion Comprehension of the new format is comparable to MFP . CLARIFIG has the potential to simplify presentation in more complex contexts such as comparison of several treatment options in patient decision aids, but further studies are needed

Comprehension · Graph · Human–computer interaction · Information retrieval · Multimedia · Programming language · Randomized controlled trial · Computer Science · Health Literacy and Information Accessibility · Medicine · Multiple Sclerosis Research Studies · Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare · Surgery

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