ArticleHeliyon2024
How do patients' perceptions and doctors' images impact patient decisions? Deconstructing online physician selection using multimodal data.
Article in Heliyon, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Extending Signaling Theory in Online Health Communities to Address Medical Information Asymmetry: Systematic Review With Narrative Synthesis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Application of deep learning for transformation of Chinese traditional cultural narrative patterns and enhancement of cultural identity empowered by AIGC.Scientific reports · 2025Article
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In the post-pandemic era, medical resources are uneven, and access to healthcare is complicated. Online medical platforms have become a solution to bridge the information gap and reduce hospital pressure. This study uses the stereotype content model and signaling theory to explore the impact of patient perception of patient decision making (PDM) on online medical service platforms. Also, it tests the moderating effect of physician image. We collected information on 12,890 physicians and 746,981 patient reviews from online medical platforms in China. Unsupervised machine learning was used to construct a topic model to extract patients' perceptions of physicians' competence and warmth. Meanwhile, the facial features of physicians, such as age, smile, and glasses, are recognized by convolutional neural networks. Finally, the influence of PDM concern on decision-making and the moderating effect of physician image were analyzed by multiple linear regression. The results of the study showed that (1) patients' perceptions of physicians' competence and warmth had a positive effect on decision-making; (2) physicians' age and wearing glasses enhanced the positive effect of perception on decision-making; and (3) however, physicians' smiles weakened the positive effect of perception on decision-making. This study provides new insights into patients' online physician selection, guides the construction and promotion of medical service platforms, and provides an effective avenue of exploration to alleviate the problem of uneven distribution of offline medical resources.
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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.