Physician warmth and competence may help patients worry less over normal test results

Communicating normal test results that reveal no abnormalities isn't always enough to ease a patient's worries. In a study published in The Annals of Family Medicine journal, researchers asked 349 participants to imagine having gastrointestinal symptoms and a relative recently diagnosed with bowel cancer. Participants then watched one of four videos in which a physician delivered the same identical normal test results.

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