Understanding risk

doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7474.1086

BMJ 2004;329:1086 (6 November), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7474.1086

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Understanding risk

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I spent the afternoon before the Rugby Union world cup witha patient liaison group, fine tuning our anaesthetic literaturefor distribution to preoperative patients. An essential partof this sort of information is a risk-benefit explanation. Patientsincreasingly seem to expect that low risk is equivalent to norisk and that if something goes wrong it is a consequence of"fault" and lack of care. The only time people turn this perceptionof risk-benefit on its head is with the lottery: people regularlybuy into the 1 in 14 million chance of winning the jackpot,but none would expect to be hit by lightning or die under anaesthesia—bothof which are more likely.

I was healthy—a low risk for occlusive vascular events.I was 51 years old, a non-smoker for 20 years, body mass index24.5, blood pressure a reasonable 135/85 mm Hg, blood cholesterol5.6 mmol/l. I am . . . [Full text of this article]

David R Derbyshire, consultant in anaesthesia

Warwick Hospital (dr.derbyshire@ntlworld.com)

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Any help with how to expalin risk?: David G Taylor
bmj.com, 7 Nov 2004 [Full text]
Re: Any help with how to expalin risk?: Peter Bruggen
bmj.com, 22 Nov 2004 [Full text]