Trial Information

Randomized Trial of a Primer to Help Patients Understand Risk

OBJECTIVES:

- Compare medical data interpretation skills in participants of low or high socioeconomic
status who receive a general education primer (entitled "Know Your Chances:
Understanding Health Statistics") vs a health education booklet (entitled "The Pocket
Guide to Good Heath for Adults").

OUTLINE: This is a randomized, controlled study. Participants are stratified according to
socioeconomic status (low vs high). Participants are randomized to 1 of 2 intervention arms.

- Arm I (control): Participants receive a health education booklet entitled "The Pocket
Guide to Good Health for Adults," published by the Agency for Health Care Research and
Quality, which contains general information about disease risk and reducing risk by
following recommended prevention or screening activities.

- Arm II (primer): Participants receive a general education primer entitled "Know your
chances: Understanding health statistics," which teaches how to understand disease risk
and the benefits and risks of intervention.

Within 2 weeks after receiving the education material, participants in both arms complete a
survey, including a medical data interpretation test, STAT-interest, STAT-confidence, and
user ratings of the education materials.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 555 participants were accrued for this study.