Evidence-based health information [Evidenzbasierte Gesundheitsinformationen]

Consumers and patients want to participate in making decisions related to their health. They have an ethical right to make informed decisions. Evidence-based information is an indispensable prerequisite for informed decision making. However, health information is frequently biased and misleading. Disease-related health risks and the benefits of medical interventions are usually overestimated; harms are often underestimated. Evidence-based health information has to be based on scientific data and be independent, complete, honest and comprehensible. The goal of the medical intervention must be explained. All possible options, including the option of not intervening, must be presented. The probabilities of success, failure and adverse effects have to be communicated numerically and comprehensibly. Risk reductions have to be presented using natural frequencies rather than relative risks. People must have the right to reject health interventions without sanctions. © 2014, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.