Purpose: Government and other authorities frequently need to inform people about risk. The purpose of this paper is to explore aspects of the quality of risk communication and the potential discrepancies in views on quality between provider and user of risk information. Further, this study evaluates whether risk information affects concerns about health risks. The risk scenario applied is radiation from mobile phones and mobile masts.
Method: The study was based on an internet survey with 1687 Danish respondents aged 20-69 years. The website was programmed to randomly assign respondents to three types of information on radiation: (A) a brief technical summary of existing knowledge about radiation from mobile phones and masts, (B) a longer, more comprehensive, and more technical information on existing knowledge about radiation from mobile phones and masts, and how radiation from mobile phones may or may not affect health, and (C) a short statement with simple measures on how to reduce exposure to radiation from mobile phones and consequently any potential health risk. Before and after the information on risk was presented, the respondents were asked to rate their degree of concern regarding health risks from radiation from mobile phones.
Result: The respondents rated the short statement (A) on how to reduce exposure to radiation from mobile phones more trustworthy and useful than the more technical information (B and C). Further, the study revealed that the information provided increased the degree of concern among a large proportion of respondents, irrespective of the type of information provided (while decreasing concerns among others).
Conclusion: The provider of risk information may define quality in communication as comprehensive and technically correct information that enables the receivers of the information to make personal and informed judgments on the degree of risk and the value of risk reduction based on individual preferences. In the present case, respondents rated short information with specific guidance and no technical information as more trustworthy and useful. These results suggest that there may be some degree of non-alignment between providers and user’s perception of what constitutes quality in risk communication, which suggests that providers of risk information may want to rethink the format of their risk communication.
See more of: The 33rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Medical Decision Making