TOPLINE:

Presenting numbers with evidence-based strategies can support patients’ understanding of a medical condition. Healthcare professionals can do this by using numeric probabilities instead of verbal probability terms like “rare” or “common”; using consistent denominators, for example, percentages or rates per 1000; reporting absolute rather than relative differences; using visuals to show risks; and giving clear context for unfamiliar values such as biomarker levels.

METHODOLOGY:

• Healthcare professionals rely on numbers to guide decisions, monitor patients, and communicate; numerical information is effective only when patients have sufficient numeracy skills, which many lack, leading to misunderstanding, confusion, and frustration.
• This study presents five evidence-based strategies for communicating numbers to help patients better understand and engage in their care.

TAKEAWAY:

• Clinicians should use numbers, even approximate ones, to describe risk because words such as “rare” and “common” mean different things to different people; prior studies have shown that words alone often make people view events as more likely and make them more inclined to act, and most people prefer numbers or numbers plus words.
• Use of consistent risk denominators such as percentages or rates per 1000 instead of 1-in-X formats with a fixed numerator is encouraged; the 1-in-X format often makes risks seem larger, affects behavioral intentions, and makes comparisons harder.
• Differences in probability should be presented as absolute changes rather than relative increases or reductions because use of relative formats or asymmetric presentation of benefits and harms can overstate benefits and understate risks.
• Visual displays of probability should depict both the numerator and denominator — for example, 100-icon arrays or stacked bars — because such formats produce smaller perceived probabilities than numerator-only displays.
• Finally, it is important to provide context for unfamiliar numbers such as biomarker levels by showing normal ranges, target values, and action thresholds so patients can judge clinical relevance. For example, labeling a threshold for concern on a chart made people less worried about a mildly elevated result.

IN PRACTICE:

“When communicating health numbers to patients, clinicians can improve patient understanding by presenting information using numbers rather than providing verbal probability terms such as rare, common, or unlikely; using consistent denominators; discussing absolute rather than relative risks; and providing context for unfamiliar types of data,” the researchers of the study reported.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Brian Zikmund-Fisher, PhD, Department of Health Behavior and Health Equity, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was published online on September 24, 2025, in JAMA.

LIMITATIONS:

No specific limitations were explicitly stated in this study.

DISCLOSURES:

Some authors reported receiving funding or grants from the US National Library of Medicine, the American Heart Association, the National Institutes of Health, and other sources outside the submitted work.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.