Abstract
This paper presents a study of the diagnosis of "dyspepsia" in 154 patients based on data collected at their initial outpatient attendance via an interview with a non-medically qualified physician's assistant. The reactions of patients to this type of interview were favourable, and the data recorded were as reliable as those recorded by clinicians. We conclude (1) that the data recorded by the physician's assistant are valuable diagnostically; (2) where these cannot be collected by a qualified physician, this task may be delegated to a non-medically qualified person; but (3) this interview should augment and not replace the traditional clinical interview.
Full text
PDFSelected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Davis R. H., Williams J. E. X-ray unit for general practitioners. Br Med J. 1968 Feb 24;1(5590):502–504. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.5590.502. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gill P. W., Leaper D. J., Guillou P. J., Staniland J. R., Horrocks J. C., de Dombal F. T. Observer variation in clinical diagnosis--a computer-aided assessment of its magnitude and importance in 552 patients with abdominal pain. Methods Inf Med. 1973 Apr;12(2):108–113. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gregory D. W., Davies G. T., Evans K. T., Rhodes J. Natural history of patients with x-ray-negative dyspepsia in general practice. Br Med J. 1972 Dec 2;4(5839):519–520. doi: 10.1136/bmj.4.5839.519. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Horrocks J. C. A computer-aided diagnostic system using a small desk-top computer-calculator. Methods Inf Med. 1974 Apr;13(2):83–88. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Krag E. Pseudo-ulcer and true peptic ulcer. A clinical, radiographic and statistical follow-up study. Acta Med Scand. 1965 Dec;178(6):713–728. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]