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Updated: Aug 11, 2026
07:47
Measuring Delay Discounting in Humans Using an Adjusting Amount Task
Published on: January 9, 2016
Discounting and risk characteristics in clinical decision-making
Monica Ortendahl1, James F Fries
1Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Immunology and Rheumatology, Palo Alto, CA, USA. monicaortendahl@hotmail.com
Summary
Understanding time and risk in medical decisions is crucial. Adjusting how health information is presented can reduce discounting and improve treatment adherence for better health outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Decision Sciences
- Health Economics
- Behavioral Medicine
Background:
- Medical decisions often involve trading immediate costs for future health benefits.
- Time-related aspects, or discounting, influence the perceived value of these future outcomes.
- Uncertainty and risk are inherent in healthcare, necessitating careful consideration alongside time factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the role of time-related aspects and risk in medical decision-making.
- To analyze how discounting affects health promotion and clinical judgments.
- To investigate the impact of framing and shared decision-making on patient compliance.
Main Methods:
- Review of valuation factors in medical decision-making.
- Analysis of the relationship between discounting, risk perception, and health outcomes.
- Examination of shared decision-making frameworks incorporating time and risk.
Main Results:
- Long-term health decisions are sensitive to discount rates, which vary by domain, outcome, individual, and certainty.
- Asymmetric discounting between doctors and patients can lead to poor treatment compliance.
- Framing of risk information can influence discount rates and potentially improve compliance.
Conclusions:
- Integrating time and risk analysis into clinical judgments can enhance decision-making.
- Shared decision-making, considering both patient and doctor perspectives on time and risk, is vital.
- Strategic framing of health information may mitigate discounting and improve adherence to treatments.
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