Carnegie Mellon University

This study tested whether a simple writing exercise about personal values could reduce physical symptoms and stress, and improve medication adherence in 250 breast cancer patients taking aromatase inhibitors. Participants wrote one essay per month for six months, either about the…

This study looked at how heart transplant doctors and nurses judge transplant centers. 72 clinical staff members were shown different data about two hospitals: one that accepts almost all donor hearts and another that only picks the best ones. The goal was to see which hospital t…

This study tested how presenting heart transplant center data—specifically donor acceptance rates—affects which hospital laypeople choose. Over 1000 participants from Amazon Mechanical Turk viewed different formats of outcome statistics and chose between a hospital that accepts m…

This study looked at how medical students evaluate heart transplant hospitals when given different types of outcome data. 105 students from the University of Pittsburgh were shown survival statistics that either did or did not highlight how often a hospital rejects donor hearts. …

This study tested whether a new one-page FDA medication handout is more useful and easier to understand than the current drug information insert. 330 women aged 18-45 reviewed one of three handouts and answered questions about readability, usefulness, and comprehension. The goal …