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Table 2 Description of outcome measures and predictors

From: Understanding and using comparative healthcare information; the effect of the amount of information and consumer characteristics and skills

Outcome measures

Comprehension of information (5 questions) (composite: number of correct responses, range 0-5)

1.

 Which hospital has procedures to prevent adverse effects of thrombosis?

2.

 What is the performance of hospital A concerning the number of performed hip- or knee replacements among adults in a year?

3.

 Which hospital is according to you the best when it comes to the conduct of doctors?

4.

 Which hospital is the worst when it comes to procedures to prevent adverse effects of thrombosis?

5.

 What is the performance of hospital B concerning the conduct of doctors?

Perceived usefulness of information (7 questions) (item: range 1-4*) (composite: range 7-28)

1.

 I think this information is handy

2.

 I think this information is nice to look at

3.

 I think this information is useful

4.

 I think this information is not interesting (R)

5.

 I think this information is important

6.

 This information does not mean a lot to me (R)

7.

 I would like to use this information if I had to make a hospital choice

Hospital choice (1 question) (correct response; 0=wrong; 1=correct)

1.

 Which hospital would you choose if you needed a hip- or knee surgery?

Ease of hospital choice (1 question) (range -3 (very difficult) - 3 (very easy))

1.

 How difficult was it for you to make a choice between the hospitals?

Predictors

Literacy (gap text; 5 missing words) (composite: number of correct responses, range 0-5)

Numeracy (3 questions) (composite: number of correct responses, range 0-2^)

1.

 Imagine that we flip a coin 1.000 times. What is your best guess about how many times the coin would come up heads in 1.000 flips? …times out of 1000

2.

 In the ‘state lottery’, the chance of winning a €10 is 1%. What is your best guess about how many people would win a €10 prize if 1000 people each buy a single ticket?

 …person(s) out of 1.000

3.

 In ‘the sponsor bingo lottery’, the chance of winning a car is 1 in 1.000. What percent of tickets of ‘the sponsor bingo lottery’ win a car? ….%^

Active choice behaviour (search & selection behaviour scale) (6 questions) (item: range 1-4#) (composite: range 6-24)

1.

 It doesn’t matter too much to me where and by whom I am treated.

2.

 I don’t want to invest too much time and energy in the choice process.

3.

 If I need care, I usually go the therapist/care facility to which my GP or specialist has referred me.

4.

 If I need care, I usually investigate thoroughly how, where and from whom I will receive the best treatment (R).

5.

 I have experience with the health care system and therefore know which therapist or care facility is best for me (R).

6.

 I think it’s important to weigh possible treatments, therapists and care facilities against each other properly (R).

  1. * These items use a four-point Likert-type scale. 1 = completely disagree 2 = disagree 3 = agree 4 = completely agree.
  2. (R) Reversed item.
  3. ^ During the data collection period, an error in the system was discovered. Participants could only enter integers. Consequently, the answers on the third numeracy question (correct response 0.1) were not taken into account in the composite.
  4. # These items use a four-point Likert-type scale. 1 = completely agree 2 = agree 3 = disagree 4 = completely disagree.