ArticleHealth expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy2007
Perceived ambiguity about cancer prevention recommendations: associations with cancer-related perceptions and behaviours in a US population survey.
Article in Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Interventions to Engage Affective Forecasting in Health-Related Decision Making: A Meta-Analysis.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2018Pooled it
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- Effects of Prior Exposure to Conflicting Health Information on Responses to Subsequent Unrelated Health Messages: Results from a Population-Based Longitudinal Experiment.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2022Trial
- Psychological Impact of Ambiguous Health Messages about COVID-19.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2022Trial
- The Role of Cancer-Related Fatalistic Beliefs and Perceived Information Ambiguity in Lung Cancer Screening Uptake.Clinical journal of oncology nursing · 2026Article
- How Are Perceived Ambiguity and Risk Beliefs Related? Evidence From Longitudinal and Daily Diary Data.Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis · 2026Article
- Worry about prostate cancer and risk perception among middle-aged men: results from the PROBASE trial.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2025Article
- Bridging the ICT Revolution and Communication Inequality: Lessons for Cancer Survivors.Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP · 2023Article
- Relationship between mental health disorder symptoms and negative cancer perceptions among U.S. adults.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2023Article
- Prevalence and Potential Consequences of Exposure to Conflicting Information about Mammography: Results from Nationally-Representative Survey of U.S. Adults.Health communication · 2023Article
- Stratified Impacts of the Infodemic During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-sectional Survey in 6 Asian Jurisdictions.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Article
- The interplay between risk and protective factors during the initial height of the COVID-19 crisis in Italy: The role of risk aversion and intolerance of ambiguity on distress.Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) · 2022Article
- Information Complexity and Behavior Intention to Prescribe Antibiotics Based on the Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Report: The Mediating Roles of Information Overload and Attitude.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2021Article
- Antecedents and Consequences of Information Overload in the COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Evidence that perceptions of and tolerance for medical ambiguity are distinct constructs: An analysis of nationally representative US data.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2020Article
- High School Youth and E-cigarettes: The Influence of Modified Risk Statements and Flavors on E-cigarette Packaging.American journal of health behavior · 2020Article
- Data Resource Profile: The National Cancer Institute's Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS).International journal of epidemiology · 2020Article
- Cancer information overload: Discriminant validity and relationship to sun safe behaviors.Patient education and counseling · 2020Article
- Communicating Uncertainty: a Narrative Review and Framework for Future Research.Journal of general internal medicine · 2019Review
- Effects of Media Exposure to Conflicting Information About Mammography: Results From a Population-based Survey Experiment.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHealth information reaching the public today is often characterized by what decision theorists have termed 'ambiguity'- i.e. uncertainty regarding the information's reliability, credibility or adequacy. This is a critical problem, as growing research suggests that ambiguity has important effects-promoting pessimistic judgments about risks and potential outcomes of risk-reducing behaviours, and lowering adoption of these behaviours. However, little is known about the public's perceptions of ambiguity in the health information domain, the effects of these perceptions, and the factors that influence these effects.
objectiveTo examine associations between perceived ambiguity regarding cancer prevention recommendations and prevention-related perceptions and behaviours, and to explore how these associations differ by cancer type. STUDY DESIGN AND
participantsCross-sectional analysis of data on 4,070 adults participating in the 2005 US Health Information National Trends Survey. MAIN VARIABLES AND OUTCOME MEASURES: We examined associations between perceived ambiguity about colon, skin and lung cancer prevention recommendations and two main outcome variables: (i) risk-related cognitions (perceived cancer risk and preventability, cancer-related worry) and (ii) risk-modifying behaviours (colon cancer screening, sunscreen use and smoking abstinence).
resultsPerceived ambiguity was inversely associated with perceptions of the preventability of all three cancers, and with cancer-specific risk-modifying behaviours including sigmoidoscopy-colonoscopy testing, sunscreen use and smoking abstinence. Relationships with cancer risk perceptions and worry varied across different cancer types.
conclusionsPerceived ambiguity about cancer prevention recommendations has significant and predictable associations with cancer prevention-related cognitions and behaviours, and some associations differ by cancer type. These findings have implications for future research and communication efforts.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.