Project Details
Projekt
Diagnosis in primary care practice: cognitive strategies
Subject Area
Public Health, Healthcare Research, Social and Occupational Medicine
Term
from 2010 to 2013
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 179552437
General Practitioners (GPs) are the most important point of entry into the health care system. They have to differentiate between frequently encountered benign problems and potentially serious conditions presented by their patients. Within this project, the cognitive strategies GPs use for their diagnostic assessment are investigated. 280 consultations from 12 practices have been videotaped. For each, the GP has provided an account of his/her diagnostic reasoning by semi-structured interview. Analysis does focus on strategies for information search, stopping rules and combination of information to reach a decision. Of particular interest is how GPs deal with the challenge of a large number of alternatives (diagnoses), of high uncertainty and small samples for learning. We suggest -Smart Induction- as an ecologically adapted strategy to deal with ill-defined situations. Parts of this work have been validated by an international expert group. However, further analyses are needed. The purpose of this research is descriptive. The validity of strategies, heuristics and criteria identified will have to be formally evaluated in future projects.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
