Determinants of intention to deviate from clinical practice guidelines

Area of Science:

• Human Factors and Ergonomics
• Social Psychology
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Procedural violations in work systems are volitional, posing challenges for human factors research.
• Understanding the causes of violations requires investigating workers' beliefs about rules and guidelines.
• Previous work by the authors provides foundational insights into healthcare procedural violations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate anaesthetists' beliefs regarding clinical practice guidelines.
• To determine the influence of these beliefs on intentions to deviate from guidelines.
• To demonstrate a social psychological approach for studying procedural violations.

Main Methods:

• A survey was administered to 629 consultant anaesthetists.
• Participants rated their beliefs about deviating from three specific guidelines.
• Regression analysis was used to assess the predictive power of belief ratings on deviation intention.

Main Results:

• Belief ratings significantly predicted self-rated intention to deviate from clinical practice guidelines.
• The findings highlight the role of individual beliefs in procedural adherence.
• The study validates a social psychological method for investigating violations.

Conclusions:

• Anaesthetists' beliefs about guidelines are crucial for understanding adherence.
• Interventions targeting beliefs may mitigate procedural violations in healthcare.
• This research contributes to improving human reliability in medical practice.