The effects of personal relevance of topic and information type on older adults' accurate recall of written medical passages about osteoarthritis

Objectives: This study investigated the influence of information type (based on whether the text affirmed the reader's veridical beliefs or disconfirmed the reader's erroneous beliefs) and self-reported osteoarthritis status on older adults' accurate recall of written medical passages about osteoarthritis. Methods: One week after reading the passages, adults aged 65 through 80 without osteoarthritis (n = 46) and with osteoarthritis (n = 31) completed a cued recall task that focused on accurate memory of what the passage said. Results: Disconfirming information was less accurately recalled than affirming information. Whereas self-reported osteoarthritis status was not significantly (p >.05) related to accurate recall of affirming information, it was significantly (p <.05) related to accurate recall of disconfirming information. Discussion: Older adults with osteoarthritis were more likely than older adults without osteoarthritis to misrepresent the content of the passages as supporting their misconceptions.