Measuring physicians' judgment--the use of clinical data by Australian rheumatologists.

Abstract

Most therapeutic decisions depend upon the clinical judgment of physicians assessing their patients. However the inherent and wide variation in such judgments is usually ignored. Rheumatoid arthritis typifies those diseases in which much information is available on which to base decisions, but little is known about how physicians combine the data to evaluate their patients' response to treatment. Thirty-four Australian rheumatologists recorded their assessments of the progress of 50 rheumatoid patients treated with 'second line' agents, based on data presented on previously validated written forms. Clinical judgment analysis, a form of multiple regression analysis, was then used to model the..