Physician risk attitudes and hospitalization of infants with bronchiolitis.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether the risk attitudes of pediatric emergency physicians are related to the likelihood that otherwise healthy infants with bronchiolitis will be admitted for inpatient care.


METHODS
Risk aversion and discomfort with diagnostic uncertainty were assessed among 46 pediatric emergency physicians from three hospitals participating in the Child Health Accountability Initiative. Study physicians managed 397 otherwise healthy infants ages 0 to 12 months presenting to their hospital emergency departments with bronchiolitis. Mean risk aversion and discomfort with diagnostic uncertainty scores were compared across physician gender, years of experience, and formal training in emergency medicine. Additional analyses based on infants as the analytic unit determined admission rates of physicians scoring high and low on risk attitude measures. This model was controlled for severity of illness.


RESULTS
Scores on measures of risk aversion and discomfort with uncertainty were similar for male and female physicians and for physicians who had completed pediatric emergency medicine fellowship training and those without such training. Risk aversion scores were significantly higher for physicians with 15 or more years of experience. Admission rates for infants with bronchiolitis were no higher among physicians scoring above the median on risk attitude measures. When adjusted for severity of illness, physicians' risk attitudes were not associated with admission rates.


CONCLUSIONS
Recent growth in per-capita admissions for bronchiolitis is not accounted for by physician intolerance for diagnostic uncertainty. Physician risk attitudes should be considered in the context of hospital admissions for other pediatric conditions with unclear prognoses.
Baldwin
Ronald L
RL
Department of Pediatrics, Arkansas Children's Hospital, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 800 Marshall Street, Little Rock, AR 72202, USA. robbinsjamesm@uams.edu
Green
Jerril W
JW
Shaw
Jennifer L
JL
Simpson
Donald D
DD
Bird
T M
TM
Cleves
Mario A
MA
Robbins
James M
JM
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001988:Bronchiolitis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003657:Decision Making; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment