Table 5 Coding of qualitative information
From: Portals to Wonderland: Health portals lead to confusing information about the effects of health care
Statements coded as expressing effect | You may benefit from the medication It has helped many patients It is said to improve symptoms |
Statements coded as not expressing effect | The treatment can be used Treatment may include Your doctor may recommend the treatment |
Statements coded as "effective" | Is effective/highly effective/(often) very effective Has proven effective/helpful/beneficial Especially helpful Has been found/reported to be helpful/effective Has an effect on the symptoms Improves the symptoms Enjoys a good success rate Works/(usually) works well Usually successful Is the most effective drug X was more effective than Y Was better than other therapies and better than no treatment Strong evidence on the effectiveness of X when compared with Y In clinical trials, some people who took the drug compared to individuals who took a placebo showed some improvement People treated with the drug showed improvements in symptoms Reduces the PANSS scores significantly more than placebo You can protect yourself against X by taking Y Can clear up your symptoms in a couple of days and cure the infection within a week Many studies have shown the treatment to be useful/can ease the symptoms Many people respond to the treatment Most people do very well after treatment These treatments have been beneficial to many women Relieves symptoms in the majority of properly selected patients Have helped many patients Is recommended/should be recommended These drugs all had similar ability to relieve the symptoms Helps some sufferers/some people Of some value in certain patients |
Statements coded as "probably effective" | There have been reports of some benefits Appears to be helpful Results/evidence suggest that the treatment is beneficial/has beneficial effects |
Statements coded as "unknown effect" | Have not been proven Results are variable Some studies suggest this is effective..other studies have found that it doesn't help Effectiveness for many people is unknown Results of studies have been inconsistent The evidence is uncertain The treatment is at present, an experimental approach. |
Statements coded as "not effective" | None found |
Statements coded as "probably not effective" | None found |
Statements coded as unclear | Not all people taking these drugs benefit from them The treatment is not always successful For some people, the treatment may help prevent some symptoms from becoming worse For some people, the treatment is prescribed to possibly delay the worsening of some of their symptoms Does the treatment work? Not always The treatment is of not more benefit than the other treatments May help/relieve pain/improve symptoms/relieve symptoms/be a good option Might help Some studies have shown that (the treatment) may decrease (the symptoms) Can help/improve symptoms/relieve symptoms Is said to improve symptoms The effects of the treatment varies for different people. Some will not notice any effect, while others may find that their condition improves slightly |