Consumer and Patient Health Information: Overview

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The goal of this book is to help you better understand health information by teaching you about the numbers behind the messages—the medical statistics on which the claims are based. The book will also familiarize you with risk charts, which are designed to help you put your health concerns in perspective.

Collective statistical illiteracy is the phenomenon that the majority of people do not understand what health statistics mean, or even consistently draw wrong conclusions without noticing. I argue that statistical illiteracy (i) is common to patients, journalists, and physicians alike; (ii) is created by nontransparent framing of information that is sometimes an unintentional result of lack of understanding, but can also be an intentional effort to manipulate or persuade people; and (iii) is a consequence of the ongoing lack of efficient training in statistical thinking in the educational system.