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Surviving Bad News: Health Information without Treatment Options

Author

Listed:
  • Alberto Ciancio
  • Fabrice Kämpfen
  • Hans-Peter Kohler
  • Rebecca Thornton

Abstract

When there is no treatment available for a life-threatening disease, providing personal health information could lead to despair or fatalistic behaviors resulting in negative health outcomes. We document this possibility utilizing an experiment in Malawi that randomized incentives to learn HIV testing results in a context where antiretroviral treatment was not yet available. Six years after the experiment, among HIV-positive individuals, those who learned their status were 23 percentage points less likely to survive than those who did not, with effects persisting after 15 years. Receiving an HIV-positive diagnosis resulted in riskier health behaviors, greater anxiety, and higher discount rates.

Suggested Citation

  • Alberto Ciancio & Fabrice Kämpfen & Hans-Peter Kohler & Rebecca Thornton, 2025. "Surviving Bad News: Health Information without Treatment Options," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 7(1), pages 1-18, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aerins:v:7:y:2025:i:1:p:1-18
    DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20240058
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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