Cardiology Commons^™

Impact Of Clinical Experience On Quantification Of Clinical Signs At Physical Examination, Luciano F. Drager, Paulo A. Lotufo, Isabela M. Bensenor

Paulo A Lotufo

Purpose. Although physical examination is a fundamental component of medical decision making, relatively few studies have evaluated how physicians quantify clinical signs and whether different methods of assessment have different effects on clinical practice. Objectives. To evaluate a possible impact of clinical experience when attending physicians, medical residents and medical students quantify qualitative signs of physical examination in a teaching hospital. Setting. Hospital das Clı´nicas, University of Sa˜o Paulo, Brazil. Subjects. A total of 244 randomly selected physicians and medical students completed a reliable and consistent eight-item questionnaire. Main outcome measures. To compare how they quantified clinical signs of cyanosis, …