Role of social endorsement in attitudes towards a new health treatment: Results from a randomized vignette-based survey in Lesotho

We examined whether social endorsement from a close trusted individual can influence ambiguity attitudes towards a hypothetical new treatment. We conducted a vignette-driven 1:1 randomized survey experiment with 475 outpatient visitors at the district government hospital in Butha Buthe, Lesotho between March and September 2024. The primary outcome was measured using the Ambiguity Aversion Measure for Medical Treatments and Devices (AA-Med). A mixed-effects ordinal logistic regression was used to model the influence of social endorsement on AA-Med scores. Regression results revealed no differences in AA-Med scores based on the presence of social endorsement (β=0.06; 95% CI [-0.29 – 0.40]; p=0.70). Tertiary education was associated with lower ambiguity aversion after controlling for confounders (β=-1.17; 95% CI [-1.78 – -0.57]; p