Document Detail


Moral controversy, directive counsel, and the doctor's role: findings from a national survey of obstetrician-gynecologists.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  20736675     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
PURPOSE: To explore physicians' attitudes toward providing directive counsel when dealing with morally controversial medical decisions, and to examine associations between physicians' opinions and their demographic and religious characteristics. METHOD: In 2008-2009, the authors mailed a survey to a stratified, random sample of 1,800 U.S. obstetrician-gynecologists. They asked participants whether, when dealing with either typical or morally controversial medical decisions, "a physician should encourage patients to make the decision that the physician believes is best." RESULTS: Among eligible physicians, the response rate was 66%. Fifty-four percent of respondents rejected the use of directive counsel for typical medical decisions; 78% did so for morally controversial medical decisions. Physicians were less likely to refrain from directive counsel for typical medical decisions if they were older and foreign-born but more likely to refrain from directive counsel if they were more theologically pluralistic. Theological pluralism was the only characteristic significantly associated with refraining from directive counsel for morally controversial medical decisions. CONCLUSIONS: Providing nondirective counsel to their patients appears to have become the norm among certain obstetrician-gynecologists in the United States, particularly when dealing with morally controversial medical decisions. These physicians tend to be female, younger, U.S.-born, and more theologically pluralistic. Shifts toward refraining from directive counsel seem to relate to shifts in physicians' demographic, cultural, and religious characteristics.
Authors:
John D Yoon; Kenneth A Rasinski; Farr A Curlin
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges     Volume:  85     ISSN:  1938-808X     ISO Abbreviation:  Acad Med     Publication Date:  2010 Sep 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-08-25     Completed Date:  2010-09-28     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  8904605     Medline TA:  Acad Med     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  1475-81     Citation Subset:  AIM; IM    
Affiliation:
Section of Hospital Medicine, Department of Medicine, Maclean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA. jdyoon@uchicago.edu
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adult
Aged
Attitude of Health Personnel*
Chi-Square Distribution
Counseling / ethics*
Decision Making*
Female
Gynecology*
Humans
Logistic Models
Male
Middle Aged
Morals*
Obstetrics*
Physician's Role*
Physician-Patient Relations
Questionnaires
Religion
Grant Support
ID/Acronym/Agency:
1 K23 AT002749/AT/NCCAM NIH HHS

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


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