Fear and clinical uncertainty were associated with more cautious clinical decisions, including more admissions, more diagnostic tests, and more antibiotic prescriptions¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2030: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Several studies reported that clinicians made more cautious clinical decisions when faced with fear and uncertainty, e.g., greater malpractice fear led to more admissions for suspected acute cardiac ischemia and more diagnostic tests. → Xi Cheng En 2025

Evidence¶

Xi Cheng En 2025¶

Xi Cheng En, Boet Sylvain, Assi Alexandre, Sikora Lindsey, McConnell Meghan M. (2025). Influence of emotions on clinical performance in acute care: A scoping review. PLoS One. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0329445

q2 · i? · review · r3

The review reports that "several studies reported that clinicians made more cautious clinical decisions when faced with fear and uncertainty", including Katz et al. on malpractice fear and admissions, and Kohut et al. on diagnostic uncertainty and antibiotic prescriptions.

"Lastly, several studies reported that clinicians made more cautious clinical decisions when faced with fear and uncertainty [43–46]."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Emotion regulation may reduce inappropriate prescriptions, while empathy shows no significant correlation with prescription volume or quality — related
• Clinicians' emotional responses to patients impacted patient engagement and diagnostic decisions, with negative emotions associated with poorer quality care and positive emotions with more comprehensive care — related
• Emotional regulation, especially tolerance of uncertainty, supports physicians' management of clinical uncertainty — related