Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Tables or bar graphs? Presenting test results in electronic medical records.
Electronic personal health records offer a promising way to communicate medical test results to patients. We compared the usability of tables and horizontal bar graphs for presenting medical test results electronically. ⋯ Compared to horizontal bar graphs, tables required more time and experience to achieve the same results, suggesting that tables can be a more burdensome format to use. The current practice of presenting medical test results in a tabular format merits reconsideration.