Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 44 in total

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  1. Memon MA, Khan S, Alam K, Rahman MM, Yunus RM
    Surg Laparosc Endosc Percutan Tech, 2020 Dec 04;31(2):234-240.
    PMID: 33284258 DOI: 10.1097/SLE.0000000000000889
    In the era of evidence-based decision-making, systematic reviews (SRs) are being widely used in many health care policies, government programs, and academic disciplines. SRs are detailed and comprehensive literature review of a specific research topic with a view to identifying, appraising, and synthesizing the research findings from various relevant primary studies. A SR therefore extracts the relevant summary information from the selected studies without bias by strictly adhering to the review procedures and protocols. This paper presents all underlying concepts, stages, steps, and procedures in conducting and publishing SRs. Unlike the findings of narrative reviews, the synthesized results of any SRs are reproducible, not subjective and bias free. However, there are a number of issues related to SRs that directly impact on the quality of the end results. If the selected studies are of high quality, the criteria of the SRs are fully satisfied, and the results constitute the highest level of evidence. It is therefore essential that the end users of SRs are aware of the weaknesses and strengths of the underlying processes and techniques so that they could assess the results in the correct perspective within the context of the research question.
    Matched MeSH terms: Clinical Decision-Making*
  2. Lee DS, Abdullah KL, Subramanian P, Bachmann RT, Ong SL
    J Clin Nurs, 2017 Dec;26(23-24):4065-4079.
    PMID: 28557238 DOI: 10.1111/jocn.13901
    AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore whether there is a correlation between critical thinking ability and clinical decision-making among nurses.

    BACKGROUND: Critical thinking is currently considered as an essential component of nurses' professional judgement and clinical decision-making. If confirmed, nursing curricula may be revised emphasising on critical thinking with the expectation to improve clinical decision-making and thus better health care.

    DESIGN: Integrated literature review.

    METHODS: The integrative review was carried out after a comprehensive literature search using electronic databases Ovid, EBESCO MEDLINE, EBESCO CINAHL, PROQuest and Internet search engine Google Scholar. Two hundred and 22 articles from January 1980 to end of 2015 were retrieved. All studies evaluating the relationship between critical thinking and clinical decision-making, published in English language with nurses or nursing students as the study population, were included. No qualitative studies were found investigating the relationship between critical thinking and clinical decision-making, while 10 quantitative studies met the inclusion criteria and were further evaluated using the Quality Assessment and Validity Tool. As a result, one study was excluded due to a low-quality score, with the remaining nine accepted for this review.

    RESULTS: Four of nine studies established a positive relationship between critical thinking and clinical decision-making. Another five studies did not demonstrate a significant correlation. The lack of refinement in studies' design and instrumentation were arguably the main reasons for the inconsistent results.

    CONCLUSIONS: Research studies yielded contradictory results as regard to the relationship between critical thinking and clinical decision-making; therefore, the evidence is not convincing. Future quantitative studies should have representative sample size, use critical thinking measurement tools related to the healthcare sector and evaluate the predisposition of test takers towards their willingness and ability to think. There is also a need for qualitative studies to provide a fresh approach in exploring the relationship between these variables uncovering currently unknown contributing factors.

    RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This review confirmed that evidence to support the existence of relationships between critical thinking and clinical decision-making is still unsubstantiated. Therefore, it serves as a call for nurse leaders and nursing academics to produce quality studies in order to firmly support or reject the hypothesis that there is a statistically significant correlation between critical thinking and clinical decision-making.

    Matched MeSH terms: Clinical Decision-Making*
  3. Nantha YS
    Korean J Fam Med, 2017 Nov;38(6):315-321.
    PMID: 29209469 DOI: 10.4082/kjfm.2017.38.6.315
    A prescriptive model approach in decision making could help achieve better diagnostic accuracy in clinical practice through methods that are less reliant on probabilistic assessments. Various prescriptive measures aimed at regulating factors that influence heuristics and clinical reasoning could support clinical decision-making process. Clinicians could avoid time-consuming decision-making methods that require probabilistic calculations. Intuitively, they could rely on heuristics to obtain an accurate diagnosis in a given clinical setting. An extensive literature review of cognitive psychology and medical decision-making theory was performed to illustrate how heuristics could be effectively utilized in daily practice. Since physicians often rely on heuristics in realistic situations, probabilistic estimation might not be a useful tool in everyday clinical practice. Improvements in the descriptive model of decision making (heuristics) may allow for greater diagnostic accuracy.
    Matched MeSH terms: Clinical Decision-Making
  4. Thong Kai Shin, Seed, Hon Fei
    MyJurnal
    Decision making capacity is the basis for medical decision making. A person’s right to determine his or her own health care related decision has long been established and this forms the essence of medical treatment. This fundamental right extends to patients with mental health disorder who have the capacity to make such decisions. Where a mental disorder is evident, our experiences in the local settings suggested that clinicians are inclined to state that incapacity to decide for medical treatment is present without much assessment or exploration and explanation on the proposed treatment. Many patients with mental disorder in fact are capable at making decisions related to health care. Their rights to decide on medical treatment should be respected and not to be ignored.
    Matched MeSH terms: Clinical Decision-Making
  5. Mumtaz W, Vuong PL, Malik AS, Rashid RBA
    Cogn Neurodyn, 2018 Apr;12(2):141-156.
    PMID: 29564024 DOI: 10.1007/s11571-017-9465-x
    The screening test for alcohol use disorder (AUD) patients has been of subjective nature and could be misleading in particular cases such as a misreporting the actual quantity of alcohol intake. Although the neuroimaging modality such as electroencephalography (EEG) has shown promising research results in achieving objectivity during the screening and diagnosis of AUD patients. However, the translation of these findings for clinical applications has been largely understudied and hence less clear. This study advocates the use of EEG as a diagnostic and screening tool for AUD patients that may help the clinicians during clinical decision making. In this context, a comprehensive review on EEG-based methods is provided including related electrophysiological techniques reported in the literature. More specifically, the EEG abnormalities associated with the conditions of AUD patients are summarized. The aim is to explore the potentials of objective techniques involving quantities/features derived from resting EEG, event-related potentials or event-related oscillations data.
    Matched MeSH terms: Clinical Decision-Making
  6. Hasanah CI
    Malays J Med Sci, 2003 Jul;10(2):60-5.
    PMID: 23386798
    Quality of life measures are designed to enable patients' perspectives on the impact of health and healthcare interventions on their lives to be assessed and taken into account in clinical decision-making and research. This paper discusses some approaches, methodological as well as interpretative issues of health related quality of life research.
    Matched MeSH terms: Clinical Decision-Making
  7. Sasongko TH, Othman NH, Hussain NHN, Lee YY, Abdullah S, Husin A, et al.
    Malays J Med Sci, 2017 Aug;24(4):1-4.
    PMID: 28951684 DOI: 10.21315/mjms2017.24.4.1
    The use of placebo-controlled trials in situations where established therapies are available is considered ethically problematic since the patients randomised to the placebo group are deprived of the beneficial treatment. The pharmaceutical industry and drug regulators seem to argue that placebo-controlled trials with extensive precautions and control measures in place should still be allowed since they provide necessary scientific evidence for the efficacy and safety of new drugs. On the other hand, the scientific value and usefulness for clinical decision-making may be much higher if the new drug is compared directly to existing therapies. As such, it may still be unethical to impose the burden and risk of placebo-controlled trials on patients even if extensive precautions are taken. A few exceptions do exist. The use of placebo-controlled trials in situations where an established, effective and safe therapy exists remains largely controversial.
    Matched MeSH terms: Clinical Decision-Making
  8. Vepa A, Saleem A, Rakhshan K, Daneshkhah A, Sedighi T, Shohaimi S, et al.
    PMID: 34207560 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18126228
    BACKGROUND: Within the UK, COVID-19 has contributed towards over 103,000 deaths. Although multiple risk factors for COVID-19 have been identified, using this data to improve clinical care has proven challenging. The main aim of this study is to develop a reliable, multivariable predictive model for COVID-19 in-patient outcomes, thus enabling risk-stratification and earlier clinical decision-making.

    METHODS: Anonymised data consisting of 44 independent predictor variables from 355 adults diagnosed with COVID-19, at a UK hospital, was manually extracted from electronic patient records for retrospective, case-control analysis. Primary outcomes included inpatient mortality, required ventilatory support, and duration of inpatient treatment. Pulmonary embolism sequala was the only secondary outcome. After balancing data, key variables were feature selected for each outcome using random forests. Predictive models were then learned and constructed using Bayesian networks.

    RESULTS: The proposed probabilistic models were able to predict, using feature selected risk factors, the probability of the mentioned outcomes. Overall, our findings demonstrate reliable, multivariable, quantitative predictive models for four outcomes, which utilise readily available clinical information for COVID-19 adult inpatients. Further research is required to externally validate our models and demonstrate their utility as risk stratification and clinical decision-making tools.

    Matched MeSH terms: Clinical Decision-Making
  9. Victor Lim
    MyJurnal
    Consent is defined as the “voluntary agreement to or acquiescence in what another person proposes or desires”. In the context of medical practice it is now universally accepted that every human being of adult years and of sound mind has the right to determine what shall be done with his or her own body. Informed consent is now a central part of medical ethics and medical law. There has been a change in the public’s expectations of their role in medical decision making. The paternalistic approach by doctors is no longer acceptable. Today the patient has the right to receive and the doctor the obligation to give sufficient and appropriate information so that the patient can make an informed decision to accept or refuse a treatment option. This has led to higher standards of practice in the process of informed consent taking. Consent taking is both a legal and moral requirement. Failure to comply with standards of practice can result in criminal prosecution, civil litigation or disciplinary action by the relevant professional authority. Consent taking is a process and not merely a one-off affixation of the patient’s signature on consent form. It involves a continuous discussion to reflect the evolving nature of treatment from before the treatment is given to the post-operative or discharge period. The regulatory authorities in many countries have established standards for consent taking which would include the capacity of the patient, the person who should seek consent, the information to be provided and the necessary documentation.
    Matched MeSH terms: Clinical Decision-Making
  10. Ho, S.E., Koo, Y.L., Ismail, S., Hing, H.L., Widad, O., Chung, H.T., et al.
    Medicine & Health, 2013;8(2):73-80.
    MyJurnal
    Decision making in nursing is one of the most important skills nurses must apply and utilize in their nursing practice. The aim of this study was to determine the perception of clinical decision making ability among nursing students. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary hospital. A total of 54 nursing students were recruited using a modified version of Clinical Decision Making in Nursing Scale (CDMNS) adapted from Jenkins (1985). The findings showed good CDMNS score with mean and standard deviation of (124.24±12.713). The four sub-scales of CDMNS were: searching for alternative (33.24±4.821), canvassing (28.74±3.514), evaluation and re-evaluation (31.43±3.922), searching for information (30.83±4.765). Nineteen (35%) of the participants chose nursing as their first choice, whereas 35 participants (65%) did not. Thirthy seven (69%) participants were satisfied with their nursing competency, 17 (31%) were unsatisfied. There were significant differences between searching for alternatives, evaluation and re-evaluation, and nursing as their first choice (p=

    Study site: Nursing students, Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM)
    Matched MeSH terms: Clinical Decision-Making
  11. Yong YK, Tan HY, Saeidi A, Wong WF, Vignesh R, Velu V, et al.
    Front Microbiol, 2019;10:2789.
    PMID: 31921004 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.02789
    Tuberculosis (TB) treatment monitoring is paramount to clinical decision-making and the host biomarkers appears to play a significant role. The currently available diagnostic technology for TB detection is inadequate. Although GeneXpert detects total DNA present in the sample regardless live or dead bacilli present in clinical samples, all the commercial tests available thus far have low sensitivity. Humoral responses against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) antigens are generally low, which precludes the use of serological tests for TB diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment monitoring. Mtb-specific CD4+ T cells correlate with Mtb antigen/bacilli burden and hence might serve as good biomarkers for monitoring treatment progress. Omics-based techniques are capable of providing a more holistic picture for disease mechanisms and are more accurate in predicting TB disease outcomes. The current review aims to discuss some of the recent advances on TB biomarkers, particularly host biomarkers that have the potential to diagnose and differentiate active TB and LTBI as well as their use in disease prognosis and treatment monitoring.
    Matched MeSH terms: Clinical Decision-Making
  12. Jahn Kassim PN, Alias F
    J Relig Health, 2016 Feb;55(1):119-34.
    PMID: 25576401 DOI: 10.1007/s10943-014-9995-z
    Religion and spirituality have always played a major and intervening role in a person's life and health matters. With the influential development of patient autonomy and the right to self-determination, a patient's religious affiliation constitutes a key component in medical decision making. This is particularly pertinent in issues involving end-of-life decisions such as withdrawing and withholding treatment, medical futility, nutritional feeding and do-not-resuscitate orders. These issues affect not only the patient's values and beliefs, but also the family unit and members of the medical profession. The law also plays an intervening role in resolving conflicts between the sanctity of life and quality of life that are very much pronounced in this aspect of healthcare. Thus, the medical profession in dealing with the inherent ethical and legal dilemmas needs to be sensitive not only to patients' varying religious beliefs and cultural values, but also to the developing legal and ethical standards as well. There is a need for the medical profession to be guided on the ethical obligations, legal demands and religious expectations prior to handling difficult end-of-life decisions. The development of comprehensive ethical codes in congruence with developing legal standards may offer clear guidance to the medical profession in making sound medical decisions.
    Matched MeSH terms: Clinical Decision-Making/ethics*
  13. Chew KS, van Merrienboer JJG, Durning SJ
    BMC Med Educ, 2019 Jan 10;19(1):18.
    PMID: 30630472 DOI: 10.1186/s12909-018-1451-4
    BACKGROUND: Establishing a diagnosis is a complex, iterative process involving patient data gathering, integration and interpretation. Premature closure is a fallacious cognitive tendency of closing the diagnostic process before sufficient data have been gathered. A proposed strategy to minimize premature closure is the use of a checklist to trigger metacognition (the process of monitoring one's own thinking). A number of studies have suggested the effectiveness of this strategy in classroom settings. This qualitative study examined the perception of usability of a metacognitive mnemonic checklist called TWED checklist (where the letter "T = Threat", "W = What if I am wrong? What else?", "E = Evidence" and "D = Dispositional influence") in a real clinical setting.

    METHOD: Two categories of participants, i.e., medical doctors (n = 11) and final year medical students (Group 1, n = 5; Group 2, n = 10) participated in four separate focus group discussions. Nielsen's 5 dimensions of usability (i.e. learnability, effectiveness, memorability, errors, and satisfaction) and Pentland's narrative network were adapted as the framework to study the usability and the implementation of the checklist in a real clinical setting respectively.

    RESULTS: Both categories (medical doctors and medical students) of participants found that the TWED checklist was easy to learn and effective in promoting metacognition. For medical student participants, items "T" and "W" were believed to be the two most useful aspects of the checklist, whereas for the doctor participants, it was item "D". Regarding its implementation, item "T" was applied iteratively, items "W" and "E" were applied when the outcomes did not turn out as expected, and item "D" was applied infrequently. The one checkpoint where all four items were applied was after the initial history taking and physical examination had been performed to generate the initial clinical impression.

    CONCLUSION: A metacognitive checklist aimed to check cognitive errors may be a useful tool that can be implemented in the real clinical setting.

    Matched MeSH terms: Clinical Decision-Making/methods*
  14. van der Werf ET, Redmond NM, Turnbull S, Thornton H, Thompson M, Little P, et al.
    Br J Gen Pract, 2019 Apr;69(681):e236-e245.
    PMID: 30858333 DOI: 10.3399/bjgp19X701837
    BACKGROUND: Severity assessments of respiratory tract infection (RTI) in children are known to differ between parents and clinicians, but determinants of perceived severity are unknown.

    AIM: To investigate the (dis)agreement between, and compare the determinants of, parent and clinician severity scores.

    DESIGN AND SETTING: Secondary analysis of data from a prospective cohort study of 8394 children presenting to primary care with acute (≤28 days) cough and RTI.

    METHOD: Data on sociodemographic factors, parent-reported symptoms, clinician-reported findings, and severity assessments were used. Kappa (κ)-statistics were used to investigate (dis) agreement, whereas multivariable logistic regression was used to identify the factors associated with illness severity.

    RESULTS: Parents reported higher illness severity (mean 5.2 [standard deviation (SD) 1.8], median 5 [interquartile range (IQR) 4-7]), than clinicians (mean 3.1 [SD 1.7], median 3 [IQR 2-4], P<0.0001). There was low positive correlation between these scores (+0.43) and poor inter-rater agreement between parents and clinicians (κ 0.049). The number of clinical signs was highly correlated with clinician scores (+0.71). Parent-reported symptoms (in the previous 24 hours) that were independently associated with higher illness severity scores, in order of importance, were: severe fever, severe cough, rapid breathing, severe reduced eating, moderate-to-severe reduced fluid intake, severe disturbed sleep, and change in cry. Three of these symptoms (severe fever, rapid breathing, and change in cry) along with inter/subcostal recession, crackles/crepitations, nasal flaring, wheeze, and drowsiness/irritability were associated with higher clinician scores.

    CONCLUSION: Clinicians and parents use different factors and make different judgements about the severity of children's RTI. Improved understanding of the factors that concern parents could improve parent-clinician communication and consultation outcomes.

    Matched MeSH terms: Clinical Decision-Making/methods*
  15. Ozer J, Alon G, Leykin D, Varon J, Aharonson-Daniel L, Einav S
    BMC Med Ethics, 2019 12 26;20(1):102.
    PMID: 31878920 DOI: 10.1186/s12910-019-0439-x
    BACKGROUND: The ethical principle of justice demands that resources be distributed equally and based on evidence. Guidelines regarding forgoing of CPR are unavailable and there is large variance in the reported rates of attempted CPR in in-hospital cardiac arrest. The main objective of this work was to study whether local culture and physician preferences may affect spur-of-the-moment decisions in unexpected in-hospital cardiac arrest.

    METHODS: Cross sectional questionnaire survey conducted among a convenience sample of physicians that likely comprise code team members in their country (Indonesia, Israel and Mexico). The questionnaire included details regarding respondent demographics and training, personal value judgments and preferences as well as professional experience regarding CPR and forgoing of resuscitation.

    RESULTS: Of the 675 questionnaires distributed, 617 (91.4%) were completed and returned. Country of practice and level of knowledge about resuscitation were strongly associated with avoiding CPR performance. Mexican physicians were almost twicemore likely to forgo CPR than their Israeli and Indonesian/Malaysian counterparts [OR1.84 (95% CI 1.03, 3.26), p = 0.038]. Mexican responders also placed greater emphasison personal and patient quality of life (p 

    Matched MeSH terms: Clinical Decision-Making*
  16. Velayudhan BV, Idhrees M, Matalanis G, Park KH, Tang D, Sfeir PM, et al.
    J Cardiovasc Surg (Torino), 2020 Jun;61(3):285-291.
    PMID: 32337940 DOI: 10.23736/S0021-9509.20.11397-1
    Acute type A aortic dissection remains one of the most challenging conditions in aortic surgery. Despite the advancements in the field, the mortality rate still remains high. Though there is a general consensus that the ascending aorta should be replaced, the distal extension of the surgery still remains a controversy. Few surgeons argue for a conservative approach to reduce operative and postoperative morbidity while others considering the problems associated with "downstream problems" support an aggressive approach including a frozen elephant trunk. The cohort in the Indian subcontinent and APAC is far different from the western world. Many factors determine the decision for surgery apart from the pathology of the disease. Economy, availability of the suitable prosthesis, the experience of the surgeon, ease of access to the medical facility all contribute to the decision making to treat acute type A dissection.
    Matched MeSH terms: Clinical Decision-Making*
  17. Chew KS, van Merrienboer JJG, Durning SJ
    BMC Med Educ, 2017 Nov 29;17(1):234.
    PMID: 29187172 DOI: 10.1186/s12909-017-1078-x
    BACKGROUND: A key challenge clinicians face when considering differential diagnoses is whether the patient data have been adequately collected. Insufficient data may inadvertently lead to premature closure of the diagnostic process. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that the application of a mnemonic checklist helps to stimulate more patient data collection, thus leading to better diagnostic consideration.

    METHODS: A total of 88 final year medical students were assigned to either an educational intervention group or a control group in a non-equivalent group post-test only design. Participants in the intervention group received a tutorial on the use of a mnemonic checklist aimed to minimize cognitive errors in clinical decision-making. Two weeks later, the participants in both groups were given a script concordance test consisting of 10 cases, with 3 items per case, to assess their clinical decisions when additional data are given in the case scenarios.

    RESULTS: The Mann-Whitney U-test performed on the total scores from both groups showed no statistical significance (U = 792, z = -1.408, p = 0.159). When comparisons were made for the first half and the second half of the SCT, it was found that participants in the intervention group performed significantly better than participants in the control group in the first half of the test, with median scores of 9.15 (IQR 8.00-10.28) vs. 8.18 (IQR 7.16-9.24) respectively, U = 642.5, z = -2.661, p = 0.008. No significant difference was found in the second half of the test, with the median score of 9.58 (IQR 8.90-10.56) vs. 9.81 (IQR 8.83-11.12) for the intervention group and control group respectively (U = 897.5, z = -0.524, p = 0.60).

    CONCLUSION: Checklist use in differential diagnoses consideration did show some benefit. However, this benefit seems to have been traded off by the time and effort in using it. More research is needed to determine whether this benefit could be translated into clinical practice after repetitive use.

    Matched MeSH terms: Clinical Decision-Making/methods*
  18. Chew KS, Durning SJ, van Merriënboer JJ
    Singapore Med J, 2016 Dec;57(12):694-700.
    PMID: 26778635 DOI: 10.11622/smedj.2016015
    INTRODUCTION: Metacognition is a cognitive debiasing strategy that clinicians can use to deliberately detach themselves from the immediate context of a clinical decision, which allows them to reflect upon the thinking process. However, cognitive debiasing strategies are often most needed when the clinician cannot afford the time to use them. A mnemonic checklist known as TWED (T = threat, W = what else, E = evidence and D = dispositional factors) was recently created to facilitate metacognition. This study explores the hypothesis that the TWED checklist improves the ability of medical students to make better clinical decisions.

    METHODS: Two groups of final-year medical students from Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia, were recruited to participate in this quasi-experimental study. The intervention group (n = 21) received educational intervention that introduced the TWED checklist, while the control group (n = 19) received a tutorial on basic electrocardiography. Post-intervention, both groups received a similar assessment on clinical decision-making based on five case scenarios.

    RESULTS: The mean score of the intervention group was significantly higher than that of the control group (18.50 ± 4.45 marks vs. 12.50 ± 2.84 marks, p < 0.001). In three of the five case scenarios, students in the intervention group obtained higher scores than those in the control group.

    CONCLUSION: The results of this study support the use of the TWED checklist to facilitate metacognition in clinical decision-making.

    Matched MeSH terms: Clinical Decision-Making/methods*
  19. James V, Samuel J, Kee CY, Ong GY
    Ultrasound J, 2020 Dec 03;12(1):51.
    PMID: 33270182 DOI: 10.1186/s13089-020-00199-y
    BACKGROUND: The presence of intra-abdominal calcification in the pediatric population can be due to a wide range of conditions. Calcification in the abdomen can be seen in normal or abnormal anatomical structures. In some patients, abnormal calcification points towards the pathology; whereas in others, calcification itself is the pathology. After a thorough history and clinical examination, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) would complement the assessment of acute abdominal pain, based on the list of differentials generated as per the abdominal region. The main objective of this article is to review commonly encountered causes of intra-abdominal calcifications in the pediatric population and help in clinical decision-making in a Pediatric Emergency Department.

    CASE PRESENTATION: We describe a series of pediatric patients who presented to the Pediatric Emergency Department with acute abdominal pain, in whom point-of-care ultrasound helped expedite the diagnosis by identifying varying types of calcification and associated sonological findings. For children who present to the Pediatric Emergency Department with significant abdominal pain, a rapid distinction between emergencies and non-emergencies is vital to decrease morbidity and mortality.

    CONCLUSIONS: In a child presenting to the Pediatric Emergency Department with abdominal pain, POCUS and the findings of calcifications can narrow or expand the differential diagnosis when integrated with history and physical exam, to a specific anatomic structure. Integrating these findings with additional sonological findings of an underlying pathology might raise sufficient concerns in the emergency physicians to warrant further investigations for the patient in the form of a formal radiological ultrasound and assist in the patient's early disposition. The use of POCUS might also help to categorize the type of calcification to one of the four main categories of intra-abdominal calcifications, namely concretions, conduit wall calcification, cyst wall calcification, and solid mass-type calcification. POCUS used thoughtfully can give a diagnosis and expand differential diagnosis, reduce cognitive bias, and reduce physician mental load. By integrating the use of POCUS with the history and clinical findings, it will be possible to expedite the management in children who present to the Pediatric Emergency Department with acute abdominal pain.

    Matched MeSH terms: Clinical Decision-Making
  20. Dolan H, Alden DL, Friend JM, Lee PY, Lee YK, Ng CJ, et al.
    MDM Policy Pract, 2019 09 20;4(2):2381468319871018.
    PMID: 31565670 DOI: 10.1177/2381468319871018
    Objective. To explore and compare the influences of individual-level cultural values and personal attitudinal values on the desire for medical information and self-involvement in decision making in Australia and China. Methods. A total of 288 and 291 middle-aged adults from Australia and China, respectively, completed an online survey examining cultural and personal values, and their desired level of self-influence on medical decision making. Structural equation modeling was used to test 15 hypotheses relating to the effects of cultural and personal antecedents on the individual desire for influence over medical decision making. Results. Similar factors in both Australia and China (total variance explained: Australia 29%; China 35%) predicted desire for medical information, with interdependence (unstandardized path coefficient βAustralia = 0.102, P = 0.014; βChina = 0.215, P = 0.001), independence (βAustralia = 0.244, P < 0.001; βChina = 0.123, P = 0.037), and health locus of control (βAustralia = -0.140, P = 0.018; βChina = -0.138, P = 0.007) being significant and positive predictors. A desire for involvement in decisions was only predicted by power distance, which had an opposite effect of being negative for Australia and positive for China (total variance explained: Australia 11%; China 5%; βAustralia = 0.294, P < 0.001; China: βChina = -0.190, P = 0.043). National culture moderated the effect of independence on desire for medical information, which was stronger in Australia than China (Z score = 1.687, P < 0.05). Conclusions. Study results demonstrate that in both countries, desire for medical information can be influenced by individual-level cultural and personal values, suggesting potential benefits of tailoring health communication to personal mindsets to foster informed decision making. The desired level of self-involvement in decision making was relatively independent of other cultural and personal values in both countries, suggesting caution against cultural stereotypes. Study findings also suggest that involvement preferences in decision making should be considered separately from information needs at the clinical encounter.
    Matched MeSH terms: Clinical Decision-Making
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