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False names
1Old Town Clinic, Good Samaritan Hospital Primary Care Internal Medicine Program, Portland, Oregon, USA.
The Western Journal of Medicine
|November 27, 1998
Summary
Patients may use false names for various reasons, impacting medical care. Identifying these "falsely named" patients helps clinicians provide better treatment and understand diverse patient identities.
Area of Science:
- Medical Sociology
- Patient Identity Studies
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Patient identification is crucial for effective medical relationships and care.
- The use of false names by patients can obscure vital personal, familial, ethnic, and financial information.
- Understanding the motivations behind false name use is essential for clinical practice.
Observation:
- Patients may adopt false names due to fraud, concealment, personal gain, psychological needs, or group affiliation changes.
- Distinct clinical manifestations of false name use can be categorized.
- Classifications include alias, pseudonym, manipulator, fraud, psychotic, amnestic, medical factitioner, and renamed identities.
Findings:
- False name use presents a spectrum of clinical presentations and motivations.
- A classification system for falsely named patients has been proposed.
- Recognizing these patterns is key to addressing the underlying issues.
Implications:
- Identifying falsely named patients allows for improved and more tailored clinical care.
- This classification aids in understanding the complex interplay of identity and healthcare.
- Further research into patient naming conventions and their clinical significance is warranted.