A scale for measurement of the problem patient labeling process

Area of Science:

• Medical Sociology
• Clinical Psychology
• Health Services Research

Background:

• The term "problem patient" is subjectively used by physicians to describe patients with vague, shifting symptoms across multiple organ systems.
• These patients often exhibit chronic complaints, health-related anxiety, and contribute to physician uncertainty and frustration.
• There is a need for objective measures to understand and address physician perceptions of these patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an instrument that objectively measures physicians' perceptions of "problem patients."
• To quantify a qualitative clinical impression that physicians may formulate.
• To provide a tool for further clinical and research applications.

Main Methods:

• Development of an instrument to measure physician perceptions of "problem patients."
• Reliability and validity studies were conducted on the instrument.
• The instrument was used in an ambulatory care setting for data collection.

Main Results:

• The developed instrument demonstrated high reliability in an ambulatory care setting.
• Correlation and regression analyses showed expected relationships between the instrument's scores and independent variables.
• The data suggest the instrument effectively quantifies physicians' subjective impressions.

Conclusions:

• The developed instrument holds promise for clinical and research work involving "problem patients."
• Objective measurement of physician perceptions can enhance understanding and management of these complex patient encounters.
• Further studies are warranted to explore the instrument's utility in diverse healthcare settings.