(40) Translating test results into risk
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About the task
Biomarkers of risk, things like blood pressure and cholesterol, are factors that predict risk. However, while high blood pressure (BP) is related to risk, the relationship is not linear. This visual is designed to help a person who receives an elevated BP level (e.g., at a doctor’s visit) recognize (a) that their risk is elevated AND (b) that further increases in BP would be really bad.
What’s special about this image?
This is a color-enhanced version of a classic line graph showing the exponential relationship between blood pressure and risk. Note in particular that the top levels of risk are colored so darkly that it is difficult to see the line. Red means danger in our society, so that visual cue is a powerful signal that particularly high levels of systolic blood pressure are particularly dangerous.