could you ladies answer me a style question?  in a medical setting,
what's the correct way to write ... the patient has a "1 in 10" chance
of developing xxxx ...

1:10?
1/10
one-in-ten chance?
percent?
decimal point?

thanks for the second opinion,
GB

I like "one-in-ten chance," but that's strictly my personal take on
the matter. Spelling the words in full seems better to me. Likewise, I
would write "one chance in ten," not "1 chance in 10." I generally
prefer to see the numerals zero through ten spelled out.

I'll check with some medhead friends, and do a little Web dancing, and
get back to you.

~Pink

thanks, I'm sure you're right for clarity sake.  no hurry, but I would
like a consensus, if I can get one.  comments, especially from
medicofolk, are most appreciated.

Here's a style guide that might be useful:

IEEE Computer Society
http://www.computer.org/author/style/numbers.htm

Granny,

For what it's worth, I concur with Pink.

Ace

The results of my unscientific survey:

The following Google search terms produced the associated number of
"hits" (comnbining hyphenated and unhyphenated results):

"1 in 10 chance"  =  2160 hits
"one in ten chance" = 1330 hits
"one in 10 chance" = 656 hits
"one chance in ten" = 837 hits
"one chance in 10 = 1060 hits
"1 chance in 10 = 691 hits

markj-ga

I am not a medico, but I would rather see "a ten percent chance" than
"a one-in-ten chance." The latter sounds a bit colloquial to me, as if
one is talking about gambling odds rather than scientific ratios.

"10 percent chance" = 4750
"ten percent chance" = 841

As a pediatrician, I can tell you how I normally see it in text books,
journal articles, etc.  Typically it will be given as percent, unless
a very small number, then usually as 1 in xxxx.  An example from a
text in front of me right now:

"large or giant congenital nevi, those measuring greater than 20 cm,
present in 1 in 20,000 newborns, are believed to have an estimated
6.3% lifetime risk for developing malignant melanoma."

This example uses both forms in one sentence!  In discussing
frequencies of diseases (incidence or prevalence), they are often
expressed as number/1,000 or per 100,000, etc., such as 100/1000 which
equals 1 in 10.  Again this would more likely be used for smaller
numbers.
That's for formal writing.  For patient information, it depends on the
audience, but the general advice is to express it in no higher than
5th-8th grade level, so may be 1 in 10 or perhaps 10% - no hard and
fast rules there, just what would be understood by the readers.

Hello Granny,

I would probably use percent in a scientific context, and also favour
"risk" over "chance" as in "A person with a parent or sibling with
schizophrenia has approximately a 10 percent risk of developing the
disorder compared to a 1 percent risk for a person with no family
history of schizophrenia."
http://www.insideschizophrenia.com/someone.html

I don't think it really matters whether you spell it out or use 10%
(but Google seems to ignore special characters, so I had to spell it
out to find an example!!!)

For general consumption, I would probably say something like, "One in
every ten patients will develop... "

thanks for the edification, doc!  I was hoping a white coat would
float by.  your text examples were very helpful.  I did go with 1 in
10 as it seemed the easiest to read on an informal document, although
I started having second thoughts.  5th to 8th grade, huh?

thanks everyone for taking an interest in this question.  your
comments are so very much appreciated!

I've never really liked the "one in every ten..." usage.

My friend Sarah Jane had triplets, and she was very concerned to read
that "one in every three babies born in the United States is
illegitimate." Sarah Jane can't figure out which one. ;-)

put that in the answer field, pinkie.  I have my informal, formal, and
humorous answers now. ;-)

...patient most likely has a one in ten chance of developing "X"
...a possible one in ten chance of patient developing "X"
...my personal recommendation is that the patient should be aware that
he/she has a strong chance of overcoming "X". Should treatment fail,
patient should be made aware he/she has a one in ten chance of
developing "X".
....prognosis of patient's condition is not optimistic. It should be
made clear to said patient that he/she has a one to ten chance of
developing "X"
 
do NOT use digits, dashes, symbols or equations, unless it is provided
in a separate report (i.e. blood test, scan etc).
 
...I'm no MD -- these are just my own suggestions based on the TV
series "Diagnosis Murder"  : )

As a medical transcriptionist, if it were dictated as "the patient has
a one in ten chance," I would transcribe "1 in 10 chance."  Per the
AAMT Book of Style, numerals are to be used rather than spelling it
out whenever possible.

just my 0.02!