Imagining life with an ostomy: does a video intervention improve quality-of-life predictions for a medical condition that may elicit disgust?

To test a video intervention as a way to improve predictions of mood and quality-of-life with an emotionally evocative medical condition. Such predictions are typically inaccurate, which can be consequential for decision making.In Part 1, people presently or formerly living with ostomies predicted how watching a video depicting a person changing his ostomy pouch would affect mood and quality-of-life forecasts for life with an ostomy. In Part 2, participants from the general public read a description about life with an ostomy; half also watched a video depicting a person changing his ostomy pouch. Participants' quality-of-life and mood forecasts for life with an ostomy were assessed.Contrary to our expectations, and the expectations of people presently or formerly living with ostomies, the video did not reduce mood or quality-of-life estimates, even among participants high in trait disgust sensitivity. Among low-disgust participants, watching the video increased quality-of-life predictions for ostomy.Video interventions may improve mood and quality-of-life forecasts for medical conditions, including those that may elicit disgust, such as ostomy.Video interventions focusing on patients' experience of illness continue to show promise as components of decision aids, even for emotionally charged health states such as ostomy.

Duke Scholars

Author Peter A Ubel Fuqua School of Business