Medical Decision Making: The Usage of Medical Registries and The Influence of Educational Background

Abstract

Medical decision making is a complex cognitive process involving multiple stakeholders and factors. The increased amount of information, pace at which information is obtained, source of that information, and the experience of the decision maker, both the physician and the patient can affect the medical decision making process. This research investigated two independent factors that may influence decision making: 1) the usage of a medical registry and 2) the influence of the educational background of the decision makers. This research found that registry users and non-users follow different decision making processes; and that registry users utilize the information attained from the registry in their decision making process. Decision makers of varying educational disciplines are influenced differently when presented with difficult medical decisions, and innumeracy skills are limited even in a highly educated population. Finally as medical registries are shown to impact medical decisions, and medical information is increasingly being requested by the general public, it is vital that an understanding of how the educational background of patients may impact their view of the information provided and what other influences may lead one to follow different decision rules.