RT Journal Article
T1 Treatment choice in the presence of conflicting information: The role of physician likeability in the choice of non-proven therapies against conventional treatment.
A1 Niszczota, Paweł
A1 Petrova, Dafina
K1 conflicting information
K1 doctor
K1 experiment
K1 non-proven therapies
K1 patient communication
K1 pseudo-therapies
AB Research on why patients sometimes choose non-proven therapies (NPT) instead of conventional treatments is limited. We investigated how physician likeability influences the choice of NPT instead of conventional treatment. In an experiment with three medical scenarios, participants (N = 384) consulted two physicians who gave conflicting recommendations: The first physician recommended a conventional treatment and the second one recommended a NPT. We manipulated the likeability of the first physician, who was either likeable or unlikeable. Using mediation analyses, we explored how the effect of likeability was channelled and whether time pressure influenced treatment choice. Participants chose the NPT more often (OR = 1.43, 95% CI [1.03-2.00]), had more positive affective responses, and perceived more benefit from NPT when the conventional treatment was recommended by an unlikeable (vs. likeable) physician. Time pressure had no effect on treatment choice. Physicians' likeability might play an important role in treatment choice in the presence of conflicting information. Providers should be cognizant that poor communication might push patients to prefer the advice of more likeable physicians, even when they prescribe NPT instead of conventional treatment.
PB John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
YR 2021
FD 2021-09-20
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10668/19917
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10668/19917
LA en
NO Niszczota P, Petrova D. Treatment choice in the presence of conflicting information: The role of physician likeability in the choice of non-proven therapies against conventional treatment. Br J Health Psychol. 2022 May;27(2):501-515.
NO This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. Dafina Petrova was supported by a Sara Borrell fellowship from the Health Institute Carlos III (Expde: CD19/00203) and a Juan de la Cierva Fellowship from the Ministry of Science (JC2019-039691-I). We thank Jesus Henares Montiel for the review and feedback on the medical scenarios, and Dániel Kaszás for feedback on the manuscript. Funding for the open access charge was provided by Universidad de Granada / CBUA.
DS RISalud
RD Apr 17, 2025