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Objective: To better understand the knowledge base and perceptions involved in the decision to buy and use over-the-counter pain relievers (OTCPRs) by taking into account the environment in which these decisions are made. The authors expected that the differences in access and marketing would affect knowledge and decision making related to OTCPRs in the United States and Germany., Design: A survey was given to 108 undergraduate university students in the United States and Germany (58 and 50 participants, respectively)., Results: The authors found that significantly more Americans than Germans take OTCPRs and that they also take significantly more OTCPRs. Americans exhibited less knowledge about side effects than their German counterparts. When asked when they consulted package labels, Americans reported they were more likely to do so before buying a product, whereas Germans reported consulting labels before taking OTCPRs for the first time. Package labels affected more Americans' decisions to purchase OTCPRs; Americans were also less likely to consult a doctor when feeling pain but more likely to take OTCPRs. Finally, Americans viewed OTCPRs as riskier after their status changed from prescription only to over the counter, whereas Germans believed they posed less risk., Conclusion: This study analyzed health-related behavior by looking at how environmental factors shape decision processes related to over-the-counter drug use. The results indicate that looking at environmental factors does help to explain differences in knowledge, perceptions, and behaviors among German and American students., ((PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved).)

Several researchers have questioned the merits of early mammography and prostate-specific-antigen (PSA) screening policies, arguing that these programs have not been proven useful in lowering mortality rates. This controversy highlights the necessity and importance of effectively communicating probability information to patients. Probability information, however, has been plaguing the health care profession--as numerous investigators have shown that it is often difficulty to understand and transmit. These difficulties can be overcome by changing the presentation format from a probabilistic format to a frequency format, thereby enhancing doctors' and patients' ability to solve and understand statistical information. Although I highlight this problematic issue with a discussion of mammography and prostate-specific-antigen screening, the suggested solution is not confined to a single medical procedure, but can be extended to any other medical domains where doctors are faced with the difficult task of providing complex probability data to patients.