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Jack E. Riggs, MD

Arch Neurol. 1996;53(12):1306-1308.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

TWO RECENT randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies^1,2 demonstrated a statistically significant improved neurological outcome at 3 months when patients were treated within 3 to 6 hours of the onset of acute ischemic stroke with recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (rt-PA). Do these 2 studies, however, suggest that rt-PA should now be used to treat acute ischemic stroke? To rationally address this question, an accurate assessment of the benefits and hazards of rt-PA must be identified.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHOICE

If decisions regarding therapeutic options are rational, one might expect them to be consistent. However, physicians and patients make therapeutic decisions based on the outcomes they prefer. Physicians and patients will choose therapies presented from the perspective of benefit and survival and reject the very same therapies when presented from the perspective of hazard and mortality.^3,4 The psychology of choice is heavily dependent on the framing of decisions. A classic example . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
From the Departments of Neurology, Medicine, and Community Medicine, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown.

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