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Methods Inf Med 1997; 36(01): 11-16
DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1634685
Original Article
Schattauer GmbH

Evaluation of Techniques for the Presentation of Laboratory Data. I: Time Needed for Interpretation

R. Verheij
1   Department of Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital Dijkzigt, The Netherlands
,
J. O. O. Hoeke
1   Department of Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital Dijkzigt, The Netherlands
,
B. Bonke
2   Department of Medical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Erasmus University, The Netherlands
,
R. van Strik
3   Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Erasmus University, The Netherlands
,
E. S. Gelsema
4   Department of Medical Informatics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
20 February 2018 (online)

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Abstract:

Four tabular and two graphical techniques for the presentation of laboratory test results were evaluated in a reaction-time experiment with 25 volunteers. Artificial variables and values were used to represent sets of 12 laboratory tests to eliminate the possible effects of clinical experience. Analyses focused on reaction times for correctly classified sets of data. For comparable data sets, Presentation Techniques (PT) that use color, always allow faster interpretation than PTs that do not use color, or use only a simple marker. Color-coded tables yielded an improvement in median reaction time of approximately six times or better, as compared to the reference PT (a tabular PT without any hints). For the color-coded graphs, the improvement rate was approximately 2.5 or better.

Keywords:

Clinical Laboratory - Graphical Display - Data Presentation - Data Interpretation - Evaluation
 

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