Verbal Quantifiers and Communicating Painkiller Side Effect Risk

Abstract

ABSTRACT The two studies reported here explore the use of verbal quantifiers (e.g., “common”) as an alternative to the numerical presentation of risk information about prescription drugs. Guided by work on adverb-adjective pairs (Study 1) and research on fuzzy trace theory (Study 2), predictions are made about participants' risk perceptions after reading verbal presentations of a medication's side effects. Participants report their perceptions about the drug’s side effects’ occurrence among users. In Study 1, pairs of adverbs and adjectives (e.g., “very rare”) are used in contrast to adjectives alone to convey numerical risk information. In Study 2, severity and more general risk perception measures are added to better understand bottom-down schema processing. Findings show that individuals vastly overestimate the likelihood of side effects occurring, compared with the European Union’s CIOMS III recommendations (e.g., “rare” side effects affect .01-.1% of users), and demonstrate support for the differences between gist and verbatim processing of risk information.