Verbal and numerical estimates of probability in therapeutic contexts.

Abstract The research focuses on the use of verbal rather than numerical evidence in therapeutic information sources. Data were obtained from tests on two groups of British general physicians using an official compendium of drug characteristics as a source. Tests focused on the use of words which connote the probability with which things occur. Attention is drawn to the finding that alternate forms of expression, synonyms in the literary sense, are in fact scaleable when used in the therapeutic sense. Accordingly these words or expressions may not be used either exchangeably, or without concern for context, without risk. The implications of the findings for medical training in therapeutics is discussed.