Does Provider’s Supportive Communication Enhance Trust and Treatment Adherence Attitudes in Mild and Severe Dysfunction Scenarios? A Web-Based Experimental Study

Purpose

The way healthcare providers communicate with patients can influence patients’ trust in providers and their attitudes toward treatment adherence. The present study investigated whether such influences of providers’ communication can be modulated by dysfunction severity and participant gender. Participants and Methods: In an online experiment, participants (N = 508) were instructed to imagine having either mild or severe olfactory dysfunction (OD). They were then randomized to watch a video of a healthcare provider delivering an olfactory training (OT) as a treatment for OD, with either neutral or emotionally supportive communication. Participants then rated their perceived trust in the provider, attitudes toward treatment effectiveness, treatment engagement, treatment unpleasantness, and treatment risk. State anxiety was measured before and after watching the videos.