Do Notions of Risk Inform Patient Choice? Lessons from a Study of Prenatal Genetic Counseling
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2006
Keywords
decision making, doctor patient communication, informed consent, risk
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1080/01459740600829720
Abstract
Risk modeling is an increasingly important part of clinical medicine; however, “risk status” is a complex notion, understood differently by patients and clinicians. Patients' ability to make informed choices about clinical procedures often requires that they interpret risk statistics, which may be difficult to understand and apply. In this article, which is based on a study of prenatal care in South Texas, we consider how notions of risk affect patient decisions about prenatal genetic testing. The term “risk” carries multiple meanings for clinicians and patients. These meanings may conflate concepts of danger and probability as well as muddle population risk and individual risk. We propose that failure to articulate the varied and contrasting meanings of risk held by clinicians and patients can undermine clinical communication and, thereby, hamper patients' ability to make autonomous, informed choices. Attending to these differences may prove useful in empowering patients to make truly informed decisions.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Medical Anthropology, v. 25, issue 3, p. 193-219
Scholar Commons Citation
Hunt, Linda M.; Castaneda, Heide; and Voogd, Katherine B., "Do Notions of Risk Inform Patient Choice? Lessons from a Study of Prenatal Genetic Counseling" (2006). Anthropology Faculty Publications. 108.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/ant_facpub/108
