The application of foraging theory to the information searching behaviour of general practitioners.

ABSTRACT:

Background

General Practitioners (GPs) employ strategies to identify and retrieve medical evidence for clinical decision making which take workload and time constraints into account. Optimal Foraging Theory (OFT) initially developed to study animal foraging for food is used to explore the information searching behaviour of General Practitioners. This study is the first to apply foraging theory within this context.Study objectives were: 1. To identify the sequence and steps deployed in identifiying and retrieving evidence for clinical decision making. 2. To utilise Optimal Foraging Theory to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of General Practitioner information searching.

Methods

GPs from the Wellington region of New Zealand were asked to document in a pre-formatted logb

SUBMITTER: Dwairy M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3175159 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature