PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - A Edwards
AU  - L Prior
TI  - Communication about risk--dilemmas for general practitioners. The Department of General Practice Working Group, University of Wales College of Medicine.
DP  - 1997 Nov 01
TA  - British Journal of General Practice
PG  - 739--742
VI  - 47
IP  - 424
4099  - http://bjgp.org/content/47/424/739.short
4100  - http://bjgp.org/content/47/424/739.full
SO  - Br J Gen Pract1997 Nov 01; 47
AB  - Measures of risk frequently contribute to our understanding, prevention, or treatment of disease, but it is important that general practitioners (GPs) explain clinical risks effectively to patients to ensure they are not misunderstood, as risk information can assist in decision-making processes and encourage behavioural change. However, the interpretation of risks by patients and doctors varies. It is argued that problems arise because communication about risk is usually framed in terms of the language of chance or probability. In this paper, we describe how probability theory developed, and suggest that attempts to communicate empirical risk processes in probabilistic language are bound to produce dilemmas. We explore how the theory relates to clinical practice and identify key issues that doctors must address in discussing risk with individual patients.