The effect of verbal commitment and treatment choice on medication compliance in a pediatric setting.

This experiment examined the manner in which verbal commitment and treatment choice affect medication compliance in a pediatric setting. Parents (N = 89) of children suffering from an inner ear infection (otitis media) were asked or not asked for a verbal promise to give their child all prescribed antibiotic medication (commitment manipulation) and allowed or not allowed to choose between two equally appropriate antibiotics as the treatment for their child (choice manipulation). Self-reports at follow-up visits, which were supported by urinalysis results, indicated that obtaining a verbal commitment significantly increased medication compliance. Verbal commitment also nonsignificantly increased the likelihood of a resolved infection at follow-up. Providing the parent with a choice of treatments had no effect on compliance or health outcome.