Attributes That Influence Human Decision-Making in Complex Health Services: Scoping Review

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Decision Sciences
• Health Policy and Regulation

Background:

• Current health service decision-making relies heavily on rationality and economics-based theories like Expected Utility Theory.
• The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted limitations of purely rational metrics in health policy and regulation.
• Ethical, moral, and other complex factors significantly influence decision-making beyond evidence-based rationality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and map attributes influencing human decision-making in complex health services.
• To systematically review peer-reviewed literature on human decision-making attributes in health services.

Main Methods:

• A scoping review methodology adhering to PRISMA-ScR standards was employed.
• Literature searches were conducted across ProQuest, Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science.
• Inclusion/exclusion criteria were defined, followed by citation tracking to identify relevant papers.

Main Results:

• The review analyzed 8 papers published between 1976 and 2022.
• A thematic analysis identified key themes influencing decision-making in health services.
• Results indicate that while rationality is prevalent, uniquely human attributes also play a significant role.

Conclusions:

• Decision-making in complex health services is influenced by both entrenched rationality and uniquely human attributes.
• Recognizing these diverse attributes is essential for improving health policy and regulatory decisions.
• The findings have implications for contemporary decision-making in health services.