Medical Maximizing Orientation and the Desire for Low-Value Screening: An Examination of Mediating Mechanisms

Background Medical maximizing orientation is a stable, traitlike inclination to actively use health care, often associated with pursuing low-value care. Despite attempts to reduce the overuse of low-value care by targeting this orientation directly, such interventions have not always been effective. To design effective interventions to reduce the overuse of low-value care, it is critical to understand the underlying mechanisms that govern the impact of medical maximizing orientation. Objective To examine whether risk perception (deliberative, affective, and experiential) and knowledge of the benefits and harms of low-value screening mediate the potential impact of medical maximizing orientation on attitudes toward screening uptake and screening decisions. Methods A secondary analysis was conducted on data from a Web-based experiment examining various communication tactics in an information booklet regarding low-value thyroid ultrasonography among South Korean women ( N = 492). Multiple linear, zero-inflated negative binomial and multinomial logistic regressions were used to examine the relationships between medical maximizing orientation and other study variables. A mediation analysis was performed to test mediating mechanisms. Results Medical maximizing orientation was associated with an increased positive attitude toward screening uptake and a lower likelihood of deciding not to get screened or being uncertain regarding screening decisions (relative to deciding to get screened). Knowledge and affective risk perception partially mediated the relationship between medical maximizing orientation and positive attitudes. Knowledge, deliberative, and affective risk perceptions partially mediated the relationship between medical maximizing orientation and the screening decision. Conclusions Interventions should prioritize targeting more amenable factors arising from medical maximizing orientation, such as inflated risk perceptions, particularly affective risk perception, and limited comprehension or acceptance of information about the benefits and risks associated with low-value care. Highlights This study demonstrated that people’s medical maximizing orientation can increase their positive attitudes toward the uptake of low-value screening and make them more likely to undergo it. This can happen both directly and indirectly by decreasing their understanding of the benefits and risks of screening and increasing their perception of disease risk. The study suggests that to effectively mitigate the excessive utilization of low-value care through patient-centered interventions, it is crucial to tackle 2 key issues associated with a medical maximizing mindset: inflated risk perceptions (specifically affective risk perception) and limited comprehension or acceptance of information about the benefits and risks of low-value care. This study contributes to developing a theoretical framework for interventions to improve evidence-based medical decision making by uncovering one mechanism by which medical maximizing orientation may affect the propensity to seek low-value care.