Methodological choices in experimental research on medical communication using vignettes: The impact of gender congruence and vignette modality.

Objective: Experimental vignette designs are used to systematically test the effects of medical communication. We tested the impact of two methodological choices -gender congruence and vignette modality- on analogue patient reported outcomes.

Methods: In an online experiment using a vignette portraying an oncological bad news consultation, we manipulated (1) gender congruence between the analogue and the vignette patient, and (2) vignette modality, i.