Document Detail


Geographic hierarchies of diagnostic practice style in cerebrovascular disease.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  19346048     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Diagnostic practice style describes the ways in which physicians diagnose information about disease. Like practice style effects in general, diagnostic practice style effects may emerge as the result of training, inter-personal relationships between professionals, medical enthusiasm for particular diagnoses and patient-physician interactions. In this study we analyze the ways in which patterns of diagnostic practice style associated with cerebrovascular disease varies at different socio-geographical scales in the province of Alberta, Canada. We use hierarchical linear models to partition a measure of diagnostic practice style into four levels of observation: the physician level, the facility level, the municipality level and the regional (census division) level. We model a variety of fixed effects related to physician attributes, their practice, the facilities they work in and the municipalities within which their facilities operate. Our results suggest that attributes related to physicians and the facilities and municipalities in which they work all contribute to patterns of diagnostic practice style. Physicians working in rural and urban municipalities have different practice style patterns even after controlling for the types of facilities they work in, their professional medical specialization and their workload. Similar to other research, our results reveal that physicians have different diagnostic practice styles with members of the same sex than members of the opposite sex. Geographic variations in diagnostic practice style may obscure changes in the epidemiology of cerebrovascular disease in rural communities, and provide indirect evidence that the quality and/or timeliness of diagnosis may be worse in rural Alberta.
Authors:
Nikolaos Yiannakoulias; Michael D Hill; Lawrence W Svenson
Related Documents :
9444118 - Why doctors leave rural practice.
21040078 - Why do junior doctors not want to work in a rural location, and what would induce them ...
1506088 - Effect of santhi kriya on certain psychophysiological parameters: a preliminary study.
19173098 - In search of sexual pleasure and fidelity: vaginal practices in kwazulu-natal, south af...
2762858 - Assumptions governing approaches to diagnosis and treatment.
20352548 - Male and female genital cutting among southern thailand's muslims: rituals, biomedical ...
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article     Date:  2009-04-05
Journal Detail:
Title:  Social science & medicine (1982)     Volume:  68     ISSN:  1873-5347     ISO Abbreviation:  Soc Sci Med     Publication Date:  2009 Jun 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2009-05-25     Completed Date:  2009-10-26     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  8303205     Medline TA:  Soc Sci Med     Country:  England    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  1985-92     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
McMaster University, School of Geography and Earth Sciences, 120 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. yiannan@mcmaster.ca
Export Citation:
APA/MLA Format     Download EndNote     Download BibTex
MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Alberta
Cerebrovascular Disorders / diagnosis*
Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures*
Female
Geography*
Humans
Male
Observation
Physician's Practice Patterns*

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


Previous Document:  Distinguishing research from clinical care in cancer genetics: Theoretical justifications and practi...
Next Document:  The time course effect of moderate intensity exercise on response execution and response inhibition.