How the UK public views the use of diagnostic decision aids by physicians: a vignette-based experiment
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Nurek, Martine
Kostopoulou, Olga
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Objective:
Physicians’ low adoption of diagnostic decision aids (DDAs) may be partially due to concerns about patient/public perceptions. We investigated how the UK public views DDA use and factors affecting perceptions.
Materials and Methods:
In this online experiment, 730 UK adults were asked to imagine attending a medical appointment where the doctor used a computerized DDA. The DDA recommended a test to rule out serious disease. We varied the test’s invasiveness, the doctor’s adherence to DDA advice, and the severity of the patient’s disease. Before disease severity was revealed, respondents indicated how worried they felt. Both before [t1] and after [t2] severity was revealed, we measured satisfaction with the consultation, likelihood of recommending the doctor, and suggested frequency of DDA use.
Results:
At both timepoints, satisfaction and likelihood of recommending the doctor increased when the doctor adhered to DDA advice (P ≤ .01), and when the DDA suggested an invasive versus noninvasive test (P ≤ .05). The effect of adherence to DDA advice was stronger when participants were worried (P ≤ .05), and the disease turned out to be serious (P ≤ .01). Most respondents felt that DDAs should be used by doctors “sparingly” (34%[t1]/29%[t2]), “frequently,” (43%[t1]/43%[t2]) or “always” (17%[t1]/21%[t2]).
Discussion:
People are more satisfied when doctors adhere to DDA advice, especially when worried, and when it helps to spot serious disease. Having to undergo an invasive test does not appear to dampen satisfaction.
Conclusion:
Positive attitudes regarding DDA use and satisfaction with doctors adhering to DDA advice could encourage greater use of DDAs in consultations.
Physicians’ low adoption of diagnostic decision aids (DDAs) may be partially due to concerns about patient/public perceptions. We investigated how the UK public views DDA use and factors affecting perceptions.
Materials and Methods:
In this online experiment, 730 UK adults were asked to imagine attending a medical appointment where the doctor used a computerized DDA. The DDA recommended a test to rule out serious disease. We varied the test’s invasiveness, the doctor’s adherence to DDA advice, and the severity of the patient’s disease. Before disease severity was revealed, respondents indicated how worried they felt. Both before [t1] and after [t2] severity was revealed, we measured satisfaction with the consultation, likelihood of recommending the doctor, and suggested frequency of DDA use.
Results:
At both timepoints, satisfaction and likelihood of recommending the doctor increased when the doctor adhered to DDA advice (P ≤ .01), and when the DDA suggested an invasive versus noninvasive test (P ≤ .05). The effect of adherence to DDA advice was stronger when participants were worried (P ≤ .05), and the disease turned out to be serious (P ≤ .01). Most respondents felt that DDAs should be used by doctors “sparingly” (34%[t1]/29%[t2]), “frequently,” (43%[t1]/43%[t2]) or “always” (17%[t1]/21%[t2]).
Discussion:
People are more satisfied when doctors adhere to DDA advice, especially when worried, and when it helps to spot serious disease. Having to undergo an invasive test does not appear to dampen satisfaction.
Conclusion:
Positive attitudes regarding DDA use and satisfaction with doctors adhering to DDA advice could encourage greater use of DDAs in consultations.
Date Issued
2023-05
Date Acceptance
2023-01-30
Citation
Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 2023, 30 (5), pp.888-898
ISSN
1067-5027
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Start Page
888
End Page
898
Journal / Book Title
Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association
Volume
30
Issue
5
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
https://academic.oup.com/jamia/article/30/5/888/7043150
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ocad019
Date Publish Online
2023-02-16