What multisource feedback factors influence physician self-assessments? A five-year longitudinal study.
BACKGROUND
Multisource feedback, in which medical colleagues, patients, coworkers, and the physician involved provide data, is a tool to inform physician practice. Its impact on physicians' self-assessment through two iterations is unknown.


METHODS
Data from 250 family physicians in Alberta who participated in two iterations, five years apart-1999 and 2006--allowed the authors to determine the change in self-assessment scores, using a t test. A multiple regression was used to account for the variance in the scores from the second self-assessment by the data from the multisource feedback and sociodemographics from the first iteration.


RESULTS
Physicians rated themselves higher in the second iteration. The linear regression model accounted for 27.4% of the variance in the ratings at the second iteration and incorporated data from the self-assessment.


CONCLUSIONS
Physician self-assessment seems driven by stable perceptions that physicians hold about themselves and that may be slow to change.
Lockyer
Jocelyn M
JM
Continuing Medical Education and Professional Development, 3330 Hospital Dr NW, Calgary, AB, Canada, T2N 4N1. lockyer@ucalgary.ca
Violato
Claudio
C
Fidler
Herta M
HM
D000416:Alberta; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000592:standards*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012647:Self-Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors