Choosing a Specialist: An Explanatory Study of Factors Influencing Patients in Choosing a Urologist

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Alexander Tamalunas ◽  
Alexander Buchner ◽  
Martin Hennenberg ◽  
Leo Federico Stadelmeier ◽  
Henrik Höhn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Statutory Health Insurance ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Medical Practitioner ◽  
Care Physician ◽  
Academic Degree ◽  
High Importance ◽  
Tertiary Referral Center ◽  
Patient Interaction ◽  
Life Decision

<b><i>Objectives:</i></b> While research on doctor-patient interaction has often focused on the decision-making abilities of physicians, it rarely centers around the question of how patients choose their respective practitioners. Research on fundamental decision processes is of high importance and understanding the factors that influence people’s choices in real-life decision-making would potentially provide patients, and physicians alike, with the means to provide better resources to achieve greater satisfaction from visits to a medical practitioner. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> At our tertiary referral center, patients were given the opportunity to voluntarily participate in our survey. We collected questionnaires from 1,002 patients during their visit from November 2018 to February 2020. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS V26.0 software (SPSS Statistics, Version 26.0.; IBM, Armonk, NY, USA). Results are reported as percentages for categorial variables. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Our patient cohort consisted of a higher percentage of men than of women (82 vs. 18%) with significantly more men having a university-based education (44 vs. 31%; <i>p</i> = 0.001). Women were more likely to have statutory health insurance than men (85 vs. 74%; <i>p</i> = 0.013). Men significantly preferred to be treated by a doctor of the same sex (24 vs. 8%; <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001), which significantly increased with age. Overall, more women than men trusted a referral by their primary care physician (75 vs. 66%, <i>p</i> = 0.017), while preference of a higher academic degree in the attending urologist was significantly correlated with the patients’ education. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Information on a specialist, such as professional qualifications and academic accomplishments, is easily accessible to patients with or without access to the Internet. However, recommendations and referrals, in addition to consistent care by the same treating physician, seem to be of high importance to all patients, regardless of gender or age.

Decision-making styles in a real-life decision: Choosing a college major

2006 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 629-639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen M. Galotti ◽  
Elizabeth Ciner ◽  
Hope E. Altenbaumer ◽  
Heather J. Geerts ◽  
Allison Rupp ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
College Major ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Decision Making Styles ◽  
Life Decision

scholarly journals The Hard Limits of Decoding Mental States: The Decodability of fMRI

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Jabakhanji ◽  
A.D. Vigotsky ◽  
J. Bielefeld ◽  
L. Huang ◽  
M.N. Baliki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Discrimination Performance ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Compelling Evidence ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Life Decision

SUMMARYHigh-profile studies claim to assess mental states across individuals using multi-voxel decoders of brain activity. The fixed, fine-grained, multi-voxel patterns in these “optimized” decoders are purportedly necessary for discriminating between, and accurately identifying, mental states. Here, we present compelling evidence that the efficacy of these decoders is overstated. Across a variety of tasks, decoder patterns were not necessary. Not only were “optimized decoders” spatially imprecise and 90% redundant, but they also performed similarly to simpler decoders, built from average brain activity. We distinguish decoder performance when used for discriminating between, in contrast to identifying, mental states, and show even when discrimination performance is strong, identification can be poor. Using similarity rules, we derived novel and intuitive discriminability metrics that capture 95% and 68% of discrimination performance within- and across-subjects, respectively. These findings demonstrate that current across-subject decoders remain inadequate for real-life decision making.

scholarly journals Improving Patient Preference Elicitation by Applying Concepts From the Consumer Research Field: Narrative Literature Review

10.2196/13684 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. e13684
Author(s):  
Niki Ver Donck ◽  
Geert Vander Stichele ◽  
Isabelle Huys
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Consumer Research ◽  
Patient Preference ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Preference Elicitation ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Narrative Literature ◽  
Narrative Literature Review ◽  
Life Decision

Background Although preference research finds its origins in consumer research, preference elicitation methods have increasingly attracted attention in different decision-making contexts in health care. Simulating real-life decision making is believed to be important during consumer preference elicitation. Objective The aims of this study were to compare the process of decision making between patients and consumers and to identify methods from the consumer research field that could be applied in patient preference elicitation. Methods A narrative literature review was performed to identify preference elicitation concepts from a consumer context that could offer improvements in health care. Results The process of decision making between patients and consumers was highly comparable. The following five concepts from the consumer research field that could effectively simulate a real-life decision-making process for applications in health care were identified: simulating alternatives, self-reflection, feedback-driven exploration, separated (adaptive) dual response, and arranging profiles in blocks. Conclusions Owing to similarities in the decision-making process, patients could be considered as a subgroup of consumers, suggesting that preference elicitation concepts from the consumer field may be relevant in health care. Five concepts that help to simulate real-life decision making have the potential to improve patient preference elicitation. However, the extent to which real decision-making contexts can be mimicked in health care remains unknown.

Ethical Decision-Making for Yoga Teachers and Yoga Therapists

2008 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-37
Author(s):  
Stephen Parker
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Ethical Decision ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Real Case ◽  
Yoga Therapy ◽  
Ethical Decisions ◽  
Life Decision

Any therapeutic profession, including Yoga therapy, must establish a systematic way to make ethical decisions. This article proposes a model of ethical decision-making drawn from psychotherapy, a field that—like Yoga therapy— recognizes relationship as a healing instrument. The model proposed is based on an easily remembered mnemonic that is both practical and easily internalized for real-life decision-making. A real case study using this method is presented and discussed, and hypothetical ethical dilemmas in Yoga therapy are offered for further consideration.

Effects of Healthy Aging and Mild Cognitive Impairment on a Real-Life Decision-Making Task

2017 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 1077-1087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Theres Pertl ◽  
Thomas Benke ◽  
Laura Zamarian ◽  
Margarete Delazer
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Life Decision

Understanding reasoning: Let's describe what we really think about

2011 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 269-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Sternberg
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Deductive Reasoning ◽  
Inductive Reasoning ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Human Reasoning ◽  
Ecological Relevance ◽  
Target Article ◽  
Life Decision

AbstractI suggest psychologists would more profitably study a totally different area of human reasoning than is discussed in the target article – the inductive reasoning people use in their everyday life that matters in consequential real-life decision making, rather than the deductive reasoning that psychologists have studied meticulously but that has relatively less ecological relevance to people's lives.

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