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

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