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“Decision Fatigue” & 1000 Posts

November 1, 2014 9:00 am

This post is number 1000! I don’t think this fact is related to “decision fatigue.”

From NY Times –here’s the link: Decision Fatigue for Physicians

Here’s an excerpt:

The phenomenon of “decision fatigue” has been found in judges, who are more likely to deny bail at the end of the day than at the beginning. Now researchers have found…As the day wears on, doctors become increasingly more likely to prescribe antibiotics even when they are not indicated.

For the study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, scientists analyzed diagnoses of acute respiratory infections in 21,867 cases over 18 months in primary care practices in and near Boston.

In two-thirds of the cases, antibiotics were prescribed even though they were not indicated… Over all, compared to the first hour, the probability of a prescription for antibiotics increased by 1 percent in the second hour, 14 percent in the third hour and 26 percent in the fourth.

For pediatric gastroenterologists, what do you think happens more often (or less often) due to decision fatigue? excessive/less testing? excessive/less use of medications (like proton pump inhibitors)?

For Halloween yesterday –some people had some great outfits.