title: The transculturality of 'gut feelings'. Results from a French Delphi consensus survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  General Practitioners (GPs) sometimes base their clinical decisions on 'gut feelings.' Research into the significance of this phenomenon with focus groups and a Delphi consensus procedure in the Netherlands provided a concept of 'gut feelings:' a sense of alarm, a sense of reassurance and several determinants. The transculturality of 'gut feelings' has been examined briefly until now as the issue is complex.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether a consensus on 'gut feelings' in general practice in France could be obtained. Using a similar Delphi consensus procedure and the same six initial statements as in the Netherlands, and compare the French results with the seven final Dutch consensual statements.
  
  
  METHODS
  Qualitative research, including a Delphi consensus procedure after a forward-backward translation (FBT) of the initial Dutch statements of 'gut feelings.' A heterogeneous sample of 34 French expert GPs participated. FBT of the final French statements was undertaken for a content comparison with the Dutch.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After three Delphi rounds, French GPs reached agreement on nine statements. Many similarities have been found between the Dutch and the French defining statements, with reservations concerning the 'sense of reassurance,' which French GPs seemed to feel more cautious about.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  'Gut feelings' are a well-defined concept in France too. The Dutch and the French consensual statements seem very close. The transculturality of the concept is confirmed, which is a new indicator that 'gut feelings' are a self-contained concept.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, Brest University , France.
authors.forename: Jean-Yves
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Le Reste
authors.forename: Magali
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Coppens
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barais
authors.forename: Patrice
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nabbe
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Le Floch
authors.forename: Benoît
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chiron
authors.forename: Geert Jan
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Dinant
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Berkhout
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stolper
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barraine
mesh_terms: D032921:Consensus; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003657:Decision Making; D003697:Delphi Technique; D017144:Focus Groups; D005602:France; D058006:General Practice / Q000379:methods*; D058005:General Practitioners / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D009426:Netherlands; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'