A comparison of self-report and chart audit in studying resident physician assessment of cardiac risk factors

Abstract

Three different interpretations of these findings are apparent. 1) Physician self-report is a poor tool for the measurement of clinical behavior, and therefore research of physician behavior should not rely solely on self-reported data; 2) physicians' chart recording of their clinical practice is insufficient to reflect actual care; or 3) neither is an accurate measure of actual practice.

Primary care physicians' willingness to offer a new genetic test to tailor smoking treatment, according to test characteristics

“…Since we examined physicians' anticipated responses to a newly available genetic test rather than adoption of a currently available test, we relied on realistic scenarios describing characteristics of a new test to tailor smoking treatment to assess physicians' anticipated take-up rates for such a test. While previous work has validated the use of physician selfreported data, and the use of clinical vignettes or scenarios in particular, as reliable proxies for physicians' actual past behavior (Carey & Garrett, 1996;Mandelblatt, Berg, Meropol, Edge, Gold, Hwang, & Hadley, 2001;Peabody, Luck, Glassman, Dresselhaus, & Lee, 2000), other studies have documented the tendency of physicians to overestimate their selfreported provision of preventive, health promotional services (Leaf, Neighbor, Schaad, & Scott, 1995;Montano & Phillips, 1995;Roter & Russell, 1994). The validity of physicians' self-reported likelihood of future behavior has not been assessed and is an important area for future research.…”

Reasons for Pediatrician Nonadherence to Asthma Guidelines

“…Studies of physician practice suggest that physician self-report can overestimate or underestimate actual practice when compared with chart audits or patient surveys. [20][21][22] However, our purpose was to investigate if different recommendations are associated with a different profile of barriers. The analysis assumes that self-report bias will affect measures of barriers to adherence as well as guideline adherence, thus preserving the profile of barriers for each guideline component.…”

Obstetrician-Gynecologists' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice Regarding Elder Abuse Screening

“…This survey was completed retrospectively, subjecting the study to possible recall bias; there is no way to corroborate that what OB/GYNs reported accurately reflects clinical practice. Although some have found physician report to align with data elicited by chart review (Merkin et al, 2007;O'Neil et al, 1998), others have not (Leaf, Neighbor, Schaad, & Scott, 1995). However, this survey is an initial step in understanding clinical practice, knowledge, and attitudes regarding elder abuse screening; objective and prospective research is necessary to verify the findings of our current study.…”