What are 5 examples of bias in medicine?
We all have biases. We all have weaknesses. We should not – but we do. But you can learn to recognise and reduce them.
When you first start off as a doctor, the primary motive for taking a history is information gathering. But as you transition to fully-fledged doctor history-taking is no longer a rigid process but a dynamic one which involves a complex interplay between you and the patient.
You will be obtaining and synthesising information to increase or decrease the pre-test probabilities (a set of differential diagnoses).
But you need to aware of the biases that can get in the way of history-taking.
So. What are 5 examples of bias in medicine?
- Overconfidence (arrogance) bias – “I’m an amazing diagnostician, I must be right!” – common in doctors
- Confirmation bias – paying attention to those aspects of the history that fit what you think is going on, at the exclusion of seeking more information to explore other differentials – i.e. fitting the diagnosis into your pre-decided one and treatment plan. I.e. don’t decide on your diagnosis too early!
- Availability bias – “I’ve diagnosed a lot of gastroenteritis today, so this abdominal pain must be gastroenteritis”
- Personality bias – allowing positive or negative feelings towards a patient influence the completeness of your history-taking. You are not their friend (though should be friendly) and you should try not to like/dislike them
- Judgement (of class) bias – do not judge the patient – ‘the nun is as likely to have syphilis as the prostitute’.
Summary
We have described what are 5 examples of bias in medicine? The literature suggests the first step to overcoming these biases is to be consciously aware of them. What are yours?
