Clinician Communication About Uncertainty During Parkinson Disease Diagnostic Consultations

Parkinson disease (PD) entails much uncertainty, regarding diagnosis, disease course, and treatment. How clinicians communicate about such uncertainty may affect patients' understanding of the information and their well-being. However, clinicians rarely receive formal training in how to optimally discuss uncertainty during diagnostic consultations. We assessed (1) how clinicians communicate about uncertainty, (2) how their communication about uncertainty predicts patients' feelings of uncertainty and trust, and (3) the moderating effect of clinicians' and patients' tolerance for uncertainty.