IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/medema/v40y2020i1p17-28.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Animation Improve Comprehension of Risk Information in Patients with Low Health Literacy? A Randomized Trial

Author

Listed:
  • Ashley J. Housten

    (Department of Health Services Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA)

  • Geetanjali R. Kamath

    (Department of Health Services Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA)

  • Therese B. Bevers

    (Department of Clinical Cancer Prevention, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA)

  • Scott B. Cantor

    (Department of Health Services Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA)

  • Nickell Dixon

    (Michigan Department of Health, Southern New Hampshire University, Lansing, MI, USA)

  • Andre Hite

    (Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA)

  • Michael A. Kallen

    (Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA)

  • Viola B. Leal

    (Department of Health Services Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA)

  • Liang Li

    (Department of Biostatistics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA)

  • Robert J. Volk

    (Department of Health Services Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA)

Abstract

Introduction. Enhanced visual effects, like animation, have the potential to improve comprehension of probabilistic risk information, particularly for those with lower health literacy. We tested the effect of presentation format on comprehension of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening probabilities to identify optimal risk communication strategies. Methods. Participants from a community foodbank and a cancer prevention center were randomized to 1 of 3 CRC screening risk presentations. The presentations used identical content but varied in format: 1) video with animated pictographs, 2) video with static pictographs, and 3) audiobooklet with static pictographs. Participants completed pre- and postpresentation surveys. The primary outcome was knowledge of probability/risk information regarding CRC screening, calculated as total, verbatim, and gist scores. Results. In total, 187 participants completed the study and were included in this analysis. Median age was 58 years (interquartile range [IQR]: 14 years), most participants were women (63%), and almost half had a high school education or less (46%). Approximately one-quarter had inadequate health literacy (Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults marginal/inadequate: 28%; Brief Health Literacy Screener low: 18%), and about half had low numeracy (Subjective Numeracy Scale low: 54%; Graphical Literacy Measure low: 50%). We found no significant differences in total, verbatim, or gist knowledge across presentation formats (all P > 0.05). Discussion. Use of an animated pictograph to communicate risk does not appear to augment or impede knowledge of risk information. Regardless of health literacy level, difficulty understanding pictographs presenting numerical information persists. There may be a benefit to teaching or priming individuals on how to interpret numerical information presented in pictographs before communicating risk using visual methods. Trial Registry: NCT02151032

Suggested Citation

  • Ashley J. Housten & Geetanjali R. Kamath & Therese B. Bevers & Scott B. Cantor & Nickell Dixon & Andre Hite & Michael A. Kallen & Viola B. Leal & Liang Li & Robert J. Volk, 2020. "Does Animation Improve Comprehension of Risk Information in Patients with Low Health Literacy? A Randomized Trial," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 40(1), pages 17-28, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:medema:v:40:y:2020:i:1:p:17-28
    DOI: 10.1177/0272989X19890296
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0272989X19890296
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0272989X19890296?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lyndal J. Trevena & Carissa Bonner & Yasmina Okan & Ellen Peters & Wolfgang Gaissmaier & Paul K. J. Han & Elissa Ozanne & Danielle Timmermans & Brian J. Zikmund-Fisher, 2021. "Current Challenges When Using Numbers in Patient Decision Aids: Advanced Concepts," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 41(7), pages 834-847, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:medema:v:40:y:2020:i:1:p:17-28. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.