Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39403849›Full record

ArticleMedical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making2024

What Makes the Time Tradeoff Tick? A Sociopsychological Explanation.

Peep F M Stalmeier, Bram Roudijk

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Unconscious death thoughts: Do they play a role in time trade-off and visual analogue scale scores for health?Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2026
    Trial
  2. Trial
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Peep F M StalmeierRadboud Institute for Health Sciences, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-7553-562X
Bram RoudijkRadboud Institute for Health Sciences, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-5000-0875

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundA theoretical interpretation of factors influencing time tradeoff (TTO) scores is lacking. In this conceptual study, we use a sociopsychological theory, terror management theory (TMT), to explain how death thoughts may play a role in the TTO method. TMT describes how respondents suppress death thoughts by invoking psychological defenses, such as self-esteem, and by bolstering cultural values. RESEARCH QUESTION: What is the relation between TMT and TTO scores?

methodsA framework is developed to link TMT to TTO scores. Predictions of the framework pertain to the directionality of relations between characteristics (e.g., being religious) affecting TTO scores. These predictions are then tested against the findings in the literature.

resultsThe value "prolonging life" can be used as a linking pin between TTO and TMT as it is relevant for both TMT and TTO. It is argued that the value "prolonging life" is related to TTO scores but also to TMT defense strengths. Thus, TMT defense strengths become associated with trading. Directionality predictions of the framework were confirmed in 34 out of 39 retrospective tests (

conclusionDirectionalities of relations between TTO scores and socioeconomic characteristics, euthanasia, subjective life expectancy, and religion were explained in terms of TMT defense strengths. Our framework offers a theory-based and parsimonious framework to think about characteristics influencing TTO scores. HIGHLIGHTS: Terror management theory (TMT) is a sociopsychological theory about death thoughts.Several factors are known to influence TTO scores.A new framework applies TMT to TTO scores to interpret such factors.Our framework is mostly of importance to health economists studying the TTO.

Indexed as

Attitude to DeathFemaleHumansMaleSelf ConceptSocioeconomic FactorsTime Factorscultural valuesdeath thoughtseuthanasiareligionself-esteemsocioeconomic statussubjective life expectancyterror management theorytime tradeoffutilities

Identifiers

PMID39403849
PMCPMC11542326

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.