Doctors need to listen to their (female) patients and treat (female) patients based on symptoms being described, even if they aren’t relayed in medical terms and stop assuming (female) patients are ‘hormonal’ or ‘just need a hug’. One size fits all is a terrible way to practice (female) medicine.
This headline misrepresents the data to the point of being actively dangerous
"Patients were 4x more likely to need intensive care when parents were concerned" doesn't necessarily mean that parents are better at diagnosing deterioration than vital signs.
There also needs to be analysis of how many concerns actually indicated an intensive care need to make such a claim. False positives can be as damaging as false negatives
"Study finds that parental intuition is an important diagnostic tool that should not be ignored" would be more representative
Less arrogance from doctors side will help a lot.
Listening to parents and patients should be the very minimum, humility is good for everyone involved.
My old GP, who was the last to deliver babies in our area, told me when I saw him ‘ if Mum is worried, I listen to her, she knows her baby best. If Mum & Grandma are both worried, thats my cue to look harder for the cause’
Comments
"Patients were 4x more likely to need intensive care when parents were concerned" doesn't necessarily mean that parents are better at diagnosing deterioration than vital signs.
"Study finds that parental intuition is an important diagnostic tool that should not be ignored" would be more representative
- Parental intuition must be respected as part of the diagnostic process
- Doctors should listen to their patients more in all areas
- It is also important to understand that loved ones are highly anxious & that can cause them to overanalyze things
Listening to parents and patients should be the very minimum, humility is good for everyone involved.
More listening skills training needed.
The scores based on vital signs haven’t been validated in primary care and yet have been drilled into trainees.
Combining parental and clinician intuition/ experience should be key thing we take into account.