Communicating projected survival with treatments for chronic kidney disease: patient comprehension and perspectives on visual aids

BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making

Research Article

Frances Dowen¹  Helen Pilmore²  Karishma Sidhu³  Elizabeth Broadbent⁴ 

[1] Department of Nephrology, Auckland City Hospital, 2 Park Road, Grafton, 1023, Auckland, New Zealand;Department of Nephrology, Auckland City Hospital, 2 Park Road, Grafton, 1023, Auckland, New Zealand;School of Medicine, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand;Department of Physiology, Auckland City Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand;School of Medicine, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand;

关键词: Visual aids;    Survival;    Communicating risk;    Graphs;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12911-017-0536-z

 received in 2017-01-25, accepted in 2017-09-13,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundMortality in end stage renal disease (ESRD) is higher than many malignancies. There is no data about the optimal way to present information about projected survival to patients with ESRD. In other areas, graphs have been shown to be more easily understood than narrative. We examined patient comprehension and perspectives on graphs in communicating projected survival in chronic kidney disease (CKD).MethodsOne hundred seventy-seven patients with CKD were shown 4 different graphs presenting post transplantation survival data. Patients were asked to interpret a Kaplan Meier curve, pie chart, histogram and pictograph and answer a multi-choice question to determine understanding.ResultsWe measured interpretation, usefulness and preference for the graphs. Most patients correctly interpreted the graphs. There was asignificant difference in the percentage of correct answers when comparing different graph types (p = 0.0439). The pictograph was correctly interpreted by 81% of participants, the histogram by 79%, pie chart by 77% and Kaplan Meier by 69%. Correct interpretation of the histogram was associated with educational level (p = 0.008) and inversely associated with age > 65 (p = 0.008). Of those who interpreted all four graphs correctly, there was an association with employment (p = 0.001) and New Zealand European ethnicity (p = 0.002).87% of patients found the graphs useful. The pie chart was the most preferred graph (p 0.002).The readability of the graphs may have been improved with an alternative colour choice, especially in the setting of visual impairment.ConclusionVisual aids, can be beneficial adjuncts to discussing survival in CKD.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017