Numeracy and Communication with Patients: They Are Counting on Us

Patient-centered interactive communication between physicians and patients is recommended to improve the quality of medical care. Numerical concepts are important components of such exchanges and include arithmetic and use of percentages, as well as higher level tasks like estimation, probability, p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of general internal medicine : JGIM Vol. 23; no. 12; pp. 2117 - 2124
Main Authors Apter, Andrea J., Paasche-Orlow, Michael K., Remillard, Janine T., Bennett, Ian M., Ben-Joseph, Elana Pearl, Batista, Rosanna M., Hyde, James, Rudd, Rima E.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Springer-Verlag 01.12.2008
Springer
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Biological and medical sciences
Communication
Educational Status
General aspects
Humans
Internal Medicine
Interpersonal communication
Mathematics
Medical sciences
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Miscellaneous
Patient Education as Topic - methods
Patient Education as Topic - standards
Patient-Centered Care - methods
Patient-Centered Care - standards
Perspectives
Physician patient relationships
Physician-Patient Relations
Preventive medicine
Primary care
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
risk
numeracy
health literacy
health communication
Human
Health literacy
Patient
Risk
Literacy
Knowledge
Quantitative information
Medicine
Risk factor
Counting
Public health
Communication
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Summary:Patient-centered interactive communication between physicians and patients is recommended to improve the quality of medical care. Numerical concepts are important components of such exchanges and include arithmetic and use of percentages, as well as higher level tasks like estimation, probability, problem-solving, and risk assessment - the basis of preventive medicine. Difficulty with numerical concepts may impede communication. The current evidence on prevalence, measurement, and outcomes related to numeracy is presented, along with a summary of best practices for communication of numerical information. This information is integrated into a hierarchical model of mathematical concepts and skills, which can guide clinicians toward numerical communication that is easier to use with patients.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
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ISSN:0884-8734
1525-1497
DOI:10.1007/s11606-008-0803-x