"Iatrogenicity cascade": doing harm by treating harm?
An electronic survey on substance-induced epileptic crisis was conducted in order to investigate whether doctors, who recognise their own prescription errors, increase their therapeutic aggressiveness, resulting in a so-called "iatrogenicity cascade". Two pairs of clinical vignettes were constructed, in which a patient suffers from iatrogenic (original version) or non-iatrogenic (control version) epileptic crisis. Vignettes were randomised and sent to doctors at the University Hospital of Lausanne, Switzerland, at an interval of 3 weeks. The results of the present survey in the surveyed population of doctors suggest that inappropriate prescription does not increase therapeutic aggressiveness.
Wagner
Claudia Christina
CC
Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. claudia.c.wagner@meduniwien.ac.at
Biollaz
Jerome
J
Zeitlinger
Markus
M
Buclin
Thierry
T
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003625:Data Collection; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007049:Iatrogenic Disease; D008297:Male; D008508:Medication Errors; D008511:Medicine; D008875:Middle Aged; D010820:Physicians; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D013038:Specialization; D013557:Switzerland