Participants from both trials were mostly middle-aged, white, and in good health. Readers learn to trust numbers when participants in research studies are similar to them. The primer costs less than 20 dollars, and its 142 pages of readable type with plenty of illustrations will not take more than a few hours to read. Readers learn to postpone final decisions about whether or not reductions in risk are worthwhile until they have considered the downsides. What Are the Downsides of This Risk Reduction? The number conversion table at the back of the book can help readers put this risk reduction in perspective: about “1 in 6” fewer people would fail the test if given the primer. (Taking the primer’s advice on reframing outcomes, I present the inverse of passing the test, the outcome presented in the original paper.) Readers learn to favor absolute risk reductions, although smaller and superficially less impressive than relative risk reductions. In both trials, there was a reduction in the risk of failing by 18 percentage points in the groups given the primer. They then learn to compare these risks to “modified” risks, using absolute differences. Next, readers learn to find the “starting” risks. Primer readers learn to recognize a surrogate outcome like this one as a shortcoming, just as the authors dutifully did in their original paper. Yet for practical reasons, performance on a medical data interpretation test was the outcome studied in the trials. Ideally, a primer of numeracy would study the quality of health care decisions made by its readers. Readers learn to first identify the outcome. Therefore, I will apply the self-study curriculum from Know Your Chances to interpret the results of these trials and, in doing so, make full use of this unusual circumstance. Given the current state of numeracy, however, a potential consumer may not be able to meaningfully translate the trials’ numbers into a value-driven decision about whether or not to buy Know Your Chances. The control booklet was similar in length and reading level, but unlike the primer, it did not include training on how to interpret numbers. This is a math-friendly primer of numeracy that trains patients to “know the outcome get the numbers!” Potential consumers of the primer can, rather unusually, review experimental evidence about its efficacy before they buy it, because the authors compared an earlier version of the primer to a generic, control booklet in two randomized trials.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |