Influence of Physician Behaviors on How Patients Interpret Normal Test Results

Reassuring patients that nothing serious is wrong is one of the most common interventions in family medicine. However, medical reassurance can sometimes fail, and it is not yet clear what role the doctor's behavior plays in this regard. We tested the preregistered hypothesis that a doctor's warmth and competence significantly and independently influence patients' responses to normal results from diagnostic testing.

We used an online convenience sample reporting medium somatic symptom burden (N = 349, mean age 29.9 years, 79% female) and completed an experimental analog study. After presentation of a symptom vignette, participants watched a videotaped medical report in which a doctor provided the results of diagnostic tests, stating that no abnormality had been identified. Whereas the diagnostic information was always the same, the doctor's behavior differed in terms of warmth (high vs low) and competence (high vs low).

Participants rated the likelihood of a serious disease significantly lower if the doctor showed high warmth and high competence. Further results showed that high warmth and competence also led to improvements in other outcomes, such as a lower desire to seek another doctor's opinion or additional tests. A mediation analysis indicated that the effects of warmth and competence were modulated by the extent to which participants cognitively (de)valued diagnostic information.

For patients, diagnostic information does not speak for itself; the doctor's behavior critically determines how they integrate such information. Showing high warmth and competence can help patients put trust in them and update their illness beliefs accordingly.