scholarly journals Primary care physicians’ decision-making processes in the context of multimorbidity: protocol of a systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative research

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. e023832 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Silvério Rodrigues ◽  
Paulo Faria Sousa ◽  
Nuno Basílio ◽  
Ana Antunes ◽  
Maria da Luz Antunes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Primary Care Physicians ◽  
Medical Decision ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Qualitative Evidence Synthesis ◽  
Thematic Synthesis ◽  
Qualitative Evidence

IntroductionGood patient outcomes correlate with the physicians’ capacity for good clinical judgement. Multimorbidity is common and it increases uncertainty and complexity in the clinical encounter. However, healthcare systems and medical education are centred on individual diseases. In consequence, recognition of the patient as the centre of the decision-making process becomes even more difficult. Research in clinical reasoning and medical decision in a real-world context is needed. The aim of the present review is to identify and synthesise available qualitative evidence on primary care physicians’ perspectives, views or experiences on decision-making with patients with multimorbidity.Methods and analysisThis will be a systematic review of qualitative research where PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Embase and Web of Science will be searched, supplemented with manual searches of reference lists of included studies. Qualitative studies published in Portuguese, Spanish and English language will be included, with no date limit. Studies will be eligible when they evaluate family physicians’ perspectives, opinions or perceptions on decision-making for patients with multimorbidity in primary care. The methodological quality of studies selected for retrieval will be assessed by two independent reviewers before inclusion in the review using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) tool. Thematic synthesis will be used to identify key categories and themes from the qualitative data. The Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research approach will be used to assess how much confidence to place in findings from the qualitative evidence synthesis.Ethics and disseminationThis review will use published data. No ethical issues are foreseen. The findings will be disseminated to the medical community via journal publication and conference presentation(s).PROSPERO registration numberID 91978.

scholarly journals A qualitative evidence synthesis using meta-ethnography to understand the experience of living with pelvic organ prolapse

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (12) ◽  
pp. 2631-2644
Author(s):  
Francine Toye ◽  
Jeannine Pearl ◽  
Katy Vincent ◽  
Karen Barker
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Pelvic Organ Prolapse ◽  
Evidence Synthesis ◽  
Pelvic Organ ◽  
Qualitative Evidence Synthesis ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
Qualitative Evidence ◽  
Healthcare Improvement ◽  
Healthcare Decision Making

Abstract Introduction and hypothesis Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) affects the lives of many people. We aimed to systematically search for, identify and synthesize qualitative research that explores what it is like to live with POP and make this knowledge available for healthcare improvement. Methods We systematically searched Medline, PsychInfo, Embase and CINAHL, from inception to March 2020, for qualitative research exploring the experience of living with POP. We used meta-ethnography to synthesize findings. This is a conceptual approach to qualitative evidence synthesis. We used the recent guidelines for reporting meta-ethnography. Results We screened 3103 titles and 255 abstracts and included 37 primary studies. These incorporated the experience of 777 women, (aged 18 to 95 years) from a range of countries. We organized 162 ideas into 27 conceptual categories and 10 themes. We developed a conceptual model that helps us to understand the experience of pelvic organ prolapse. This model indicates that (1) the physical losses of POP are intricately linked to loss of identity; (2) women conceptualized POP as part of womanhood, yet also its thief; (3) there is a vicious cycle of taboo, silence and misunderstanding about POP and its treatment; (4) this silence is exacerbated by a feeling that POP is not taken seriously in healthcare. Conclusions This meta-ethnography helps us to understand the experience of living with a POP. Our model illustrates the complex process of healthcare decision making. Further studies to explore the complexity of decision making from the perspective of patient and health professional are timely.

scholarly journals Factors Influencing Primary Care Physicians’ Prescribing Behavior of Anticoagulant Therapy for the Management of Patients With Non-valvular Atrial Fibrillation in the Community: a Qualitative Research Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shera Chaterji ◽  
Lay Geok Lian ◽  
Ting Yee Lee ◽  
Liwei Chua ◽  
Sabrina Wee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atrial Fibrillation ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Healthcare System ◽  
Anticoagulant Therapy ◽  
Primary Care Physicians ◽  
Medication Cost ◽  
Care Model ◽  
Factors Influencing

Abstract Background: Oral anticoagulant therapy use in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) remains suboptimal despite the availability of both warfarin and non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs). Primary care physicians’ (PCP) decision-making to initiate and select appropriate anticoagulant medication is pivotal in reducing complications among patients with AF.Aim: This study explored the factors influencing PCPs’ decision-making in anticoagulant initiation and adjustment for patients with non-valvular AF. Design of study: Qualitative research based on the theoretical framework of the Generalist Wheel of Knowledge, Understanding and Inquiry. Method: In-depth interviews or focus group discussions were conducted with 27 PCPs in general practice in urban Singapore. The audio-recordings were transcribed, audited and coded to identify themes, which are framed according to the “clinician”, “patient”, “medical condition and treatment” and “healthcare system and policy” domains.Results: Personal training and experience with anticoagulant therapy; understanding patient risk-stratification; AF detection during clinical practice; medication cost; clinical support services for anticoagulation monitoring and constraints in existing care model influenced PCPs in their anticoagulant prescription. PCPs preferred to seek guidance from cardiologists in managing patients with newly diagnosed AF and attempted to engage their patients in decision-making regarding anticoagulant therapy. They perceived sub-specialized primary care clinics focusing on AF co-management with cardiologists as an ideal setting for initiation and maintenance of anticoagulant therapy.Conclusion: PCPs’ decisions on anticoagulant therapy is influenced by personal attributes, patients, clinical presentations, anticoagulant properties and healthcare system. Their proposed care model to address the barriers awaits feasibility and acceptance assessment in future research.

scholarly journals Medical decision making among patients with heart failure – does migration background matter?

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olaf von dem Knesebeck ◽  
Martin Scherer ◽  
Gabriella Marx ◽  
Sarah Koens
Keyword(s):  
Heart Failure ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Primary Care Physicians ◽  
Medical Decision Making ◽  
Migration Background ◽  
Disease Stage ◽  
Medical Decision ◽  
Diagnosis And Management ◽  
Migration History

Abstract Background Some studies, mainly coming from the U.S., indicate disparities in heart failure (HF) treatment according to migration/ethnicity. However, respective results are inconsistent and cannot be transferred to other health care systems. Thus, we will address the following research question: Are there differences in the diagnosis and management of HF between patients with and without a Turkish migration background in Germany? Methods A factorial experimental design with video vignettes was applied. In the filmed simulated initial encounters, professional actors played patients, who consulted a primary care physician because of typical HF symptoms. While the dialog was identical in all videos, patients differed in terms of Turkish migration history (no/yes), sex (male/female), and age (55 years/75 years). After viewing the video, primary care physicians (N = 128) were asked standardized and open ended questions concerning their decisions on diagnosis and therapy. Results Analyses revealed no statistically significant differences (p < 0.05), but a consistent tendency: Primary care doctors more often asked lifestyle and psychosocial questions, they more often diagnosed HF, they gave more advice to rest and how to behave in case of deterioration, they more often auscultated the lung, and more often referred to a specialist when the patient has a Turkish migration history compared to a non-migrant patient. Differences in the medical decisions between the two groups ranged between 1.6 and 15.8%. In 10 out of 12 comparisons, differences were below 10%. Conclusions Our results indicate that are no significant inequalities in diagnosis and management of HF according to a Turkish migration background in Germany. Primary care physicians’ behaviour and medical decision making do not seem to be influenced by the migration background of the patients. Future studies are needed to verify this result and to address inequalities in HF therapy in an advanced disease stage.

scholarly journals Regulatory focus affects physician risk tolerance

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Veazie ◽  
Scott McIntosh ◽  
Benjamin P. Chapman ◽  
James G. Dolan
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Regulatory Focus ◽  
Primary Care Physicians ◽  
Randomization Test ◽  
Practice Variation ◽  
Risk Tolerance ◽  
Medical Decision ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Physician Decision Making

Risk tolerance is a source of variation in physician decision-making. This variation, if independent of clinical concerns, can result in mistaken utilization of health services. To address such problems, it will be helpful to identify nonclinical factors of risk tolerance, particularly those amendable to intervention – regulatory focus theory suggests such a factor. This study tested whether regulatory focus affects risk tolerance among primary care physicians. Twenty-seven primary care physicians were assigned to promotion-focused or prevention-focused manipulations and compared on the Risk Taking Attitudes in Medical Decision Making scale using a randomization test. Results provide evidence that physicians assigned to the promotion-focus manipulation adopted an attitude of greater risk tolerance than the physicians assigned to the prevention-focused manipulation (P=0.01). The Cohen’s d statistic was conventionally large at 0.92. Results imply that situational regulatory focus in primary care physicians affects risk tolerance and may thereby be a nonclinical source of practice variation. Results also provide marginal evidence that chronic regulatory focus is associated with risk tolerance (P=0.05), but the mechanism remains unclear. Research and intervention targeting physician risk tolerance may benefit by considering situational regulatory focus as an explanatory factor.

Primary care physicians’ medical decision making for late-life depression

1996 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 218-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Callahan ◽  
Robert S. Dittus ◽  
William M. Tierney
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Primary Care Physicians ◽  
Medical Decision Making ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Medical Decision ◽  
Late Life Depression

scholarly journals 435 - Perspectives of the general public on dementia risk reduction (DRR) and implications for implementation: a qualitative evidence synthesis

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (S1) ◽  
pp. 152-153
Author(s):  
Eleanor Curran ◽  
Kali Godbee ◽  
Terence W.H. Chong ◽  
Charles Abraham ◽  
Nicola T. Lautenschlager ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
General Public ◽  
Evidence Synthesis ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
Qualitative Evidence Synthesis ◽  
List Type ◽  
Thematic Synthesis ◽  
Qualitative Evidence

There is limited understanding of which factors most influence take-up of DRR behaviour in the general population. This evidence gap may limit the effectiveness of DRR implementation and, hence, impede translation of increasing evidence for DRR1 into real-world public health benefits.Reviews of quantitative studies have identified poor knowledge and persistence of myths about ageing2,3 as important. However, these findings are limited by the scope of included questionnaires.Qualitative literature reporting the perspectives of the general public offers an opportunity to increase this understanding. Qualitative studies can examine poorly understood phenomena in greater depth and with fewer a priori assumptions. Qualitative evidence synthesis (QES) is increasingly recognised as valuable, particularly in relation to complex interventions like DRR.We will present a QES regarding the perspectives of dementia- free members of the general public towards DRR. Searches indicate that no QES for this topic currently exists.Systematic searches of Medline, PsycINFO, Embase and CINAHL for studies published since 1995 that have used qualitative methods to explore DRR perspectives in the general public were undertaken, supplemented by hand searches of included studies’ reference lists. Following independent screening by two reviewers, 41 publications based on 37 individual studies meeting inclusion criteria have been identified.Data will be analysed using thematic synthesis, as outlined by Thomas and Harden (2008)4 and recommended for QES regarding complex health interventions5. ‘Line-by-line’ inductive coding and development of descriptive themes across studies will produce a summary of the perspectives of the general public for DRR. A conceptual framework explaining the relationships between key themes and considering the implications for implementation will be proposed.The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) tool will be used to appraise included studies. Rather than imposing an arbitrary quality cut-off point for inclusion, sensitivity analyses will be used to examine the influence of lower quality studies on review findings. Finally, the Confidence in the Evidence from Qualitative Reviews (CERQual) approach will facilitate assessment of confidence in review findings to aid future use. Data extraction is ongoing.Findings from this synthesis will support better targeted quantitative examination of DRR implementation determinants and more strategic intervention design. 1.World Health Organisation. Risk reduction of cognitive decline and dementia: WHO guidelines. World Health Organisation. 2019. Geneva. Licence CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO2.Cahill, S., Pierce, M., Werner, P., Darley, A., Bobersky, A. A systematic review of the public’s knowledge and understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Alz Dis Assoc Disord. 2015; 29:255-2753.Cations, M., Radisic, G., Crotty, M., Laver, K.E. What does the general public understand about prevention and treatment of dementia? A systematic review of population-based surveys. PLoS One. 2018, 13(4):e01960854.Thomas, J. and Harden, A. (2008). Methods for the thematic synthesis of qualitative research in systematic reviews, BMC Medical Research Methodology. 2008 July; 8:45. doi 10.1186/1471-2288-8-455.Noyes, J., Booth, A., Cargo, M., et al. (2018). Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group guidance series – paper 1: introduction. J of Clin Epidemiol. 2018; 97:35-38

scholarly journals Factors influencing primary care physicians’ prescribing behavior of anticoagulant therapy for the management of patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation in Singapore: a qualitative research study

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shera Chaterji ◽  
Lay Geok Lian ◽  
Ting Yee Lee ◽  
Liwei Chua ◽  
Sabrina Yi-Mei Wee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atrial Fibrillation ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Anticoagulant Therapy ◽  
Primary Care Physicians ◽  
Medication Cost ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Care Model ◽  
Factors Influencing

Abstract Background Oral anticoagulant therapy use in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) remains suboptimal in Singapore, despite the availability of both warfarin and non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs). Primary care physicians’ (PCP) decision-making to initiate and select appropriate anticoagulant medication is pivotal in reducing complications among patients with AF. This study explored the factors influencing PCPs’ decision-making in anticoagulant initiation and anticoagulant switch for patients with non-valvular AF. Method The study design is qualitative research based on the theoretical framework of the Generalist Wheel of Knowledge, Understanding and Inquiry. In-depth interviews or focus group discussions were conducted with 27 PCPs in general practice in urban Singapore. The audio-recordings were transcribed and coded to identify themes, which are framed according to the “clinician”, “patient”, “medical condition and treatment” and “healthcare system and policy” domains. Results Personal training and experience with anticoagulant therapy; understanding patient risk-stratification; AF detection during clinical practice; medication cost; clinical support services for anticoagulation monitoring and constraints in existing care model influenced PCPs in their anticoagulant prescription. PCPs preferred to seek guidance from cardiologists in managing patients with newly diagnosed AF and attempted to engage their patients in decision-making regarding anticoagulant therapy. Some PCPs perceived sub-specialized primary care clinics focusing on AF co-management with cardiologists as an ideal setting for initiation and maintenance of anticoagulant therapy. Conclusions PCPs are influenced by multiple interrelated factors while making decisions on anticoagulant initiation and anticoagulant switch for patients with AF. Their proposed care model to address the barriers awaits feasibility and acceptance assessment in future research.

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