Effects of debunking interventions on endorsement of alternative medicine: a randomized controlled experiment in Peru

Abstract

Debunking interventions to tackle misconceptions related to scientific issues have gained momentum,especially in the context of health care. In this randomized controlled experiment, we assessed theeffectiveness of tailored (i.e., contrarian information addressing participants’ specific motives withan affirmation of their psychological profile) and non-tailored (i.e., general contrarian informationregardless of participants’ psychological profile) debunking interventions in a sample of 167 Peruvianparticipants with positive attitudes toward egg cleanse, a popular local alternative medicinetreatment. Our debunking interventions did not significantly correct attitudinal variables related toegg cleanse, such as belief in effectiveness, future use, and preference over conventional medicine.However, exploratory analyses showed significant reductions in endorsement of usage reasons withinboth the tailored debunk (d = 0.50) and non-tailored debunk (d = 0.62) groups. Moreover, a comparisonbetween the two debunking groups indicated that participants who received a tailored debunk weremore satisfied with the interaction with the physician than those who received a non-tailored debunk(d = 0.73). These results suggest that debunking interventions on misinformed health beliefs could havean impact also in the Peruvian cultural context and for alternative medicine, even though more directattitudinal variables are particularly resistant to change. Strengths and weaknesses of tailored andnon-tailored approaches to health misinformation, as well as future research pathways to shed light onthe impact and pitfalls of debunking interventions, are discussed.