IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v323y2023ics0277953623001685.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The social life of risk probabilities in medicine

Author

Listed:
  • Armstrong, David

Abstract

In the closing decades of the 20th century, a method of calculating numerical probabilities based on populations-at-risk emerged in public health/epidemiology and then moved into clinical medicine. This new method had its own autonomous social life as it reorganised the fields of clinical perception and clinical practice. This paper documents that revolution in the epistemological basis of medicine by investigating, through primary sources, when and how the social life of a new method undermined the professional status of medicine and changed the doctor-patient relationship.

Suggested Citation

  • Armstrong, David, 2023. "The social life of risk probabilities in medicine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:323:y:2023:i:c:s0277953623001685
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115811
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953623001685
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115811?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Margaret Holmes-Rovner & Wendy L. Nelson & Michael Pignone & Glyn Elwyn & David R. Rovner & Annette M. O'Connor & Angela Coulter & Rosaly Correa-de-Araujo, 2007. "Are Patient Decision Aids the Best Way to Improve Clinical Decision Making? Report of the IPDAS Symposium," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 27(5), pages 599-608, September.
    2. Charles, Cathy & Gafni, Amiram & Whelan, Tim, 1997. "Shared decision-making in the medical encounter: What does it mean? (or it takes at least two to tango)," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 44(5), pages 681-692, March.
    3. Stevenson, Fiona A. & Barry, Christine A. & Britten, Nicky & Barber, Nick & Bradley, Colin P., 2000. "Doctor-patient communication about drugs: the evidence for shared decision making," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 50(6), pages 829-840, March.
    4. Cruz, Taylor Marion, 2022. "The social life of biomedical data: Capturing, obscuring, and envisioning care in the digital safety-net," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).
    5. Dafina Petrova & Olga Kostopoulou & Brendan C. Delaney & Edward T. Cokely & Rocio Garcia-Retamero, 2018. "Strengths and Gaps in Physicians’ Risk Communication: A Scenario Study of the Influence of Numeracy on Cancer Screening Communication," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 38(3), pages 355-365, April.
    6. Skolbekken, John-Arne, 1995. "The risk epidemic in medical journals," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 291-305, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pickard, Susan & Sheaff, Rod & Dowling, Bernard, 2006. "Exit, voice, governance and user-responsiveness: The case of English primary care trusts," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 373-383, July.
    2. Edi Karni & Moshe Leshno & Sivan Rapaport, 2014. "Helping patients and physicians reach individualized medical decisions: theory and application to prenatal diagnostic testing," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 76(4), pages 451-467, April.
    3. Solomon, Josie & Knapp, Peter & Raynor, D.K. & Atkin, Karl, 2013. "Worlds apart? An exploration of prescribing and medicine-taking decisions by patients, GPs and local policy makers," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(3), pages 264-272.
    4. E.A.G. Joosten & G.H. De Weert-Van Oene & T. Sensky & C.P.F. Van Der Staak & C.A.J. De Jong, 2011. "Treatment Goals in Addiction Healthcare: the Perspectives of Patients and Clinicians," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 57(3), pages 263-276, May.
    5. Nora Moumjid & Amiram Gafni & Alain Brémond & Marie-Odile Carrère, 2007. "Shared Decision Making in the Medical Encounter: Are We All Talking about the Same Thing?," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 27(5), pages 539-546, September.
    6. Polak, Louisa & Green, Judith, 2020. "Rethinking decision-making in the context of preventive medication: How taking statins becomes “the right thing to do”," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    7. Flynn, Kathryn E. & Smith, Maureen A. & Vanness, David, 2006. "A typology of preferences for participation in healthcare decision making," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(5), pages 1158-1169, September.
    8. Hyojung Tak & Gregory Ruhnke & Ya-Chen Shih, 2015. "The Association between Patient-Centered Attributes of Care and Patient Satisfaction," The Patient: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Springer;International Academy of Health Preference Research, vol. 8(2), pages 187-197, April.
    9. Miller, Nancy & Weinstein, Marcie, 2007. "Participation and knowledge related to a nursing home admission decision among a working age population," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 303-313, January.
    10. Odette Wegwarth & Wolfgang Gaissmaier & Gerd Gigerenzer, 2011. "Deceiving Numbers," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 31(3), pages 386-394, May.
    11. Karnieli-Miller, Orit & Eisikovits, Zvi, 2009. "Physician as partner or salesman? Shared decision-making in real-time encounters," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 1-8, July.
    12. Paul C. Schroy III & Karen Emmons & Ellen Peters & Julie T. Glick & Patricia A. Robinson & Maria A. Lydotes & Shamini Mylvanaman & Stephen Evans & Christine Chaisson & Michael Pignone & Marianne Prout, 2011. "The Impact of a Novel Computer-Based Decision Aid on Shared Decision Making for Colorectal Cancer Screening," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 31(1), pages 93-107, January.
    13. Mei-Chun Cheung & Derry Law & Joanne Yip & Jason Pui Yin Cheung, 2022. "Adolescents’ Experience during Brace Treatment for Scoliosis: A Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-10, August.
    14. Margaret Gerteis & Rosemary Borck, "undated". "Shared Decision-Making in Practice: Lessons from Implementation Efforts," Mathematica Policy Research Reports f802e52b8442486594ecda927, Mathematica Policy Research.
    15. Mark Sculpher & Amiram Gafni, 2001. "Recognizing diversity in public preferences: The use of preference sub‐groups in cost‐effectiveness analysis," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 10(4), pages 317-324, June.
    16. Coast, Joanna, 2018. "A history that goes hand in hand: Reflections on the development of health economics and the role played by Social Science & Medicine, 1967–2017," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 227-232.
    17. Vivek Goel & Carol A. Sawka & Elaine C. Thiel & Elaine H. Gort & Annette M. O’Connor, 2001. "Randomized Trial of a Patient Decision Aid for Choice of Surgical Treatment for Breast Cancer," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 21(1), pages 1-6, February.
    18. Tate, Alexandra, 2020. "Invoking death: How oncologists discuss a deadly outcome," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    19. Paraponaris, A. & Verger, P. & Desquins, B. & Villani, P. & Bouvenot, G. & Rochaix, L. & Gourheux, J. C. & Moatti, J. P. AU -, 2004. "Delivering generics without regulatory incentives?: Empirical evidence from French general practitioners about willingness to prescribe international non-proprietary names," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 23-32, October.
    20. Wirtz, Veronika & Cribb, Alan & Barber, Nick, 2006. "Patient-doctor decision-making about treatment within the consultation--A critical analysis of models," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 116-124, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:323:y:2023:i:c:s0277953623001685. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.