title: A preliminary study of the decision-making process within general practice.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the present study was to explore the factors that contribute to the process of decision making within general practice, over and above evidence-based information.
  
  
  METHODS
  A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews on a purposeful sample of GPs, based in the South West of England. Each interview was tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five broad categories emerged from the data: practitioner; patient; practitioner-patient relationship; verbal and non-verbal communication; evidence-based medicine; and external factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The nature of general practice is such that the process of making clinical decisions is complex. In an era when GPs are being overwhelmed by evidence-based information, consideration needs to be given to the implications that the nature of the decision-making process has upon the way 'evidence' is constructed and promoted within general practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Institute of Child Health, Great Ormond Street Hospital, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, UK.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mears
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sweeney
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D019985:Benchmarking; D003142:Communication; D003657:Decision Making; D004739:England; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005194:Family Practice / Q000193:education / Q000379:methods*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires