Changing inaccurate perceptions of health risk: Results from a randomized trial.

Kreuter, Matthew W., Strecher, Victor J.·1995·Health Psychology
DOI 10.1037//0278-6133.14.1.56

Abstract

We sought to identify and correct inaccurate perceptions of risk among 1,317 adult patients in a primary care setting. Patients' perceived risks of heart attack, stroke, cancer, and motor vehicle crash were assessed and compared with a measure of risk derived from a health risk appraisal. Patients were then randomly assigned to receive computer-generated individualized risk feedback, risk feedback plus behavioral change feedback, or no feedback. Changes in perceived risk from baseline to a 6-month follow-up were compared across study groups. Results showed that individualized risk feedback was effective in increasing perceived stroke risk among patients who had underestimated their stroke risk at baseline and in reducing perceived risk of cancer among patients who had overestimated their cancer risk at baseline. Individualized risk feedback did not alter patients' perception of their heart attack and motor vehicle crash risks.

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Cited by (8)

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    Krebs, Paul, Prochaska, James O., Rossi, Joseph S. · 2010 · Preventive Medicine
  3. Development, feasibility and performance of a health risk appraisal questionnaire for older persons
    Stuck, Andreas E, Kharicha, Kalpa, Dapp, Ulrike, Anders, Jennifer, von Renteln-Kruse, Wolfgang, Meier-Baumgartner, Hans Peter, Harari, Danielle, Swift, Cameron G, Ivanova, Katja, Egger, Matthias et al. · 2007 · BMC Medical Research Methodology
  4. Effects of tailored, personalized and general health messages on physical activity
    Bull, Fiona C, Kreuter, Matthew W, Scharff, Darcell P · 1999 · Patient Education and Counseling
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    Sheridan, Stacey, Pignone, Michael, Mulrow, Cynthia · 2003 · Journal of General Internal Medicine

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This page
CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Changing inaccurate perceptions of health risk: Results from a randomized trial. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1037//0278-6133.14.1.56
The paper
Kreuter, M. W., & Strecher, V. J. (1995). Changing inaccurate perceptions of health risk: Results from a randomized trial. Health Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037//0278-6133.14.1.56

Data sources

Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.

Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).

Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.