Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41803830›Full record

ArticleBMC medical ethics2026

Incognito standardized patients for studying healthcare stigma: partial deception and other ethical challenges.

Siyan Meng, Yunqing Fei, Danyang Luo, Sean Y Sylvia, M Kumi Smith

Abstract readLetter
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medical ethics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing 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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

5 authors.

Siyan MengDepartment of Health Behavior, Society and Policy, School of Public Health, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA.
Yunqing FeiCenter for Global Health and Social Responsibility, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Danyang LuoDepartment of Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Sean Y SylviaDepartment of Health Policy & Management, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
M Kumi SmithDivision of Epidemiology & Community Health, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, 1300 South Second Street, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA. smi00831@umn.edu.

Funding

Standardized Patients to Measure and Address Intersectional Stigma: An HIV Prevention Engagement StrategyR34MH121251 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · PI SMITH, M KUMI, SYLVIA, SEAN Y · 2019 to 2021
$679k
NIMH NIH HHS R34MH121251
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This paper examines the ethical considerations of using the incognito clinic visits by standardized patients (SP) in order to measure enacted stigma in healthcare settings. It reviews traditional SP methods, introduces the new method, and discusses its potential harms and benefits.

Indexed as

DeceptionHIV InfectionsSocial StigmaEthical DilemmasHumansEnacted stigmaEthical considerationsHIVMarginalized populationsStandardized patient method

Identifiers

PMID41803830
PMCPMC12973858

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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.