Consistency in Diagnostic Suggestions Does Not Influence the Tendency to Accept Them

• In Event: Measurement of Reasoning Skills in the Health Professions

Abstract

A recent study showed that physicians have difficulty rejecting incorrect diagnostic suggestions on clinical cases, which could lead to diagnostic errors. In that study, correct and incorrect suggestions alternated, which is unlikely to happen in clinical practice. In the present study residents evaluated suggested diagnoses on 8 written clinical cases, four of those suggested diagnoses were correct, and 4 were incorrect. Half of the participants first evaluated the 4 correct suggestions and finished with the evaluation of the 4 incorrect suggestions. The other half started with the incorrect suggestions and finished with the correct suggestions. No differences between groups were found, meaning the tendency to accept suggested diagnoses does not depend on the consistency of the source of the suggestions.

Authors

• Silvia Mamede, Erasmus University

• Tamara Van Gog, Erasmus University

• Jan Van Saase, Erasmus MC

• Remigius M. Rikers, Erasmus University