The Art and Science of Teratogen Risk Communication

2012

Beth Conover
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402-559-6430

Despite scientific advances in clinical teratology, exposures during pregnancy still cause great anxiety and misunderstanding. Patients and health care providers are frequently called upon to determine the health implications of scientific studies, which may involve limited and contradictory data. These findings are often conveyed numerically, which is a particularly difficult form of information for both patients and their health providers to understand and interpret. Almost half of the general population (and a substantial minority of physicians) have difficulty with numeracy. Patients with low numeracy tend to interpret information in an absolute manner and ignore uncertainty, have more difficulty using numeric information to inform their choices, and are more easily influenced by emotion and the format used in presenting information. Formats involved in conveying probability include positive or negative framing, use of relative versus absolute risk, and ratios and percentages.

teratogen , risk, numeracy

Peer-reviewed publications in scholarly journals Published/In Press

Professionals, Students

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N/A