Research article summary (published 30 Dec 2005):

Decision complexity affects the extent and type of decision support use.

Full Abstract

The increasing complexity of decision-making has emerged as a risk factor in clinical medicine. The impact that decision task complexity has on the uptake and use of clinical decision support systems (DSS) is also not well understood. Antibiotic prescribing in critical care is a complex, cognitively demanding task, made under time pressure. A web-based experiment was conducted to explore the impact of decision complexity on DSS utilization, comparing utilization of antibiotic guidelines and an interactive probability calculator for ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) plus laboratory data. Decision support was found to be used more often for less complex decisions. Prescribing decisions of higher complexity were associated with a lower frequency of DSS use, but required the use of the more cognitively demanding situation assessment tool for infection risk along with pathology data. Decision complexity thus seems to impact on the extent and type of information support used by individuals when decision-making.

Author information

Author/s: Sintchenko, Vitali (V); Coiera, Enrico (E);

Affiliation: Centre for Health Informatics, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, New South Wales, Australia.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Journal: AMIA ... Annual Symposium proceedings / AMIA Symposium. AMIA Symposium (AMIA Annu Symp Proc), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-; vol (issue ) : pp 724-8

Dates: Created 2007/01/22; Completed 2007/09/28; Revised 2009/03/09;

PMID: 17238436, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 3/10/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Algorithms Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use Critical Care Cross-Over Studies Decision Making Decision Making, Computer-Assisted

Decision Support Systems, Clinical - utilization Decision Support Techniques Humans Internet Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated - diagnosis Practice Guidelines as Topic

Associated Chemicals: Anti-Bacterial Agents (0)

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