Clinical Decision-making among Emergency Physicians: Experiential or Rational?

Autor: Khalid Talal Aldamiri, Faisal Ahmed Alhusain, Amal Almoamary, Khalid Alshehri, Nawfal Al Jerian
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2018
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health, Vol 8, Iss 1 (2018)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2210-6006
DOI: 10.2991/j.jegh.2018.04.102
Popis: It has been postulated that everyone has an affinity for one of two cognitive approaches: experiential (intuitive) or rational (conscious). The aim of this study was to analyze the thinking processes of Saudi emergency physicians at nine hospitals in Riyadh. This was a cross-sectional study, which was undertaken in Riyadh using a psychometric tool called the Rational–Experiential Inventory-40. The survey, sent by e-mail to 202 emergency physicians, had a 53% response rate. Most respondents were male (86%). The total surveyed participants included consultants (36%), associate consultants (19%), registrars, fellow or staff physicians (7%), and residents (38%). The results found a mean (standard deviation) score of 3.73 (0.51) for rational approaches to decision-making and 3.09 (0.45) for experiential approaches among the emergency physicians surveyed. The difference of 0.46 between the two scores was not statistically significant (p = 0.23). Female emergency physicians tended toward slower logical thinking (rational). Consultant emergency physicians had a higher score for fast intuitive automatic thinking (experiential) than nonconsultant physicians. This was statistically significant, t105 = 2.1, p = 0.4. Our results suggest that although both thinking styles are used in clinical decision-making, consultant emergency physicians prefer rational approaches to decision-making.
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