Physician Risk Perception and Testing Behaviors for Children With Fever.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Risk tolerance and risk perceptions may impact clinicians' decisions to obtain diagnostic tests. We sought to determine whether physician risk perception was associated with the decision to obtain blood or imaging tests among children who present to the emergency department with fever.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional study in the Boston Children's Hospital emergency department. We included children aged 6 months to 18 years from May 1, 2014 to April 30, 2019, with fever. Our primary outcome was diagnostic testing: obtaining a blood and/or imaging test. We assessed risk perception using 3 scales: the Risk Tolerance Scale (RTS), Stress From Uncertainty Scale (SUS), and Malpractice Fear Scale (MFS). A z score was assigned to each physician for e

SUBMITTER: Marchese AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9340816 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature