Some patients embrace the idea of doing everything medically possible — and that instinct can become a hurdle when it's time to scale back. A new study published in JAMA Network Open surveyed nearly 2,500 U.S. adults aged 50–80 and found that "medical maximizers" — those who lean toward taking action and doing everything possible in healthcare — are much more likely to follow a clinician's recommendation to start cancer screening, but significantly less likely to accept advice to stop.

The research, led by Dr. Laura Brotzman of Johns Hopkins University, comes as cancer screening guidelines increasingly rely on remaining life expectancy rather than age to guide decisions. That shift makes patient buy-in on stopping screening more important than ever — and harder to achieve for maximizers.

Key Takeaways:

• Maximizers were 39% more likely to accept a recommendation to screen based on life expectancy (aOR = 1.39), but 25% less likely to accept advice not to screen (aOR = 0.75)
• They were twice as likely to follow through on a recommendation to screen (aOR = 2.0), but 39% less likely to follow advice to stop (aOR = 0.61)
• Clinicians are encouraged to assess a patient's maximizer-minimizer tendencies to personalize care conversations

Why it matters: Unnecessary cancer screening in patients with limited life expectancy can lead to overdiagnosis, overtreatment, and harm. Understanding a patient's care preferences upfront could help clinicians communicate more effectively and reduce low-value care.