The Influence of Disease Severity of Preceding Clinical Cases on Pathologists' Medical Decision Making.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Medical decision making may be influenced by contextual factors. We evaluated whether pathologists are influenced by disease severity of recently observed cases.

Methods

Pathologists independently interpreted 60 breast biopsy specimens (one slide per case; 240 total cases in the study) in a prospective randomized observational study. Pathologists interpreted the same cases in 2 phases, separated by a washout period of >6 months. Participants were not informed that the cases were identical in each phase, and the sequence was reordered randomly for each pathologist and between phases. A consensus reference diagnosis was established for each case by 3 experienced breast pathologists. Ordered logit models examined the effect the pathologists' diagnoses on the precedin

SUBMITTER: Frederick PD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5045742 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature