Most family physicians report communicating the risks of adverse drug reactions in words (vs. numbers)

Family physicians can communicate the risk of adverse drug reactions to patients using words or numbers, and this format selection has important implications for patients’ risk perception and their ability to make informed decisions. The present study (i) assessed which formats family physicians preferred to communicate the risk of a given side effect, (ii) tested whether the severity of this adverse drug reaction affected this preference and (iii) investigated the types of verbal or numerical quantifier family physicians preferred to use in general (e.g., ratios, percentages). In a sample of 131 family physicians, most reported that they use words to communicate the risk of mild and severe adverse drug reactions to patients in a format selection task, but the verbal preference was weaker for severe adverse drug reactions. A quantifier selection task showed consistently, that the most common quantifiers family physicians reported to use were verbal frequencies and verbal probabilities. Family physicians and patients should be aware of the implications of this verbal preference.