• Merethe K Andersen, HvidtElisabeth AssingEAResearch Unit of General Practice, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.Department for the Study of Culture, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark., Kjeld M Pedersen, Jesper Lykkegaard, Frans B Waldorff, Anders P Munck, and Line B Pedersen.
• Research Unit of General Practice, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
• Scand J Prim Health Care. 2021 Dec 1; 39 (4): 413-418.

ObjectiveTo examine the occurrence of and types of defensive medicine (DM), and the reasons for practicing DM in general practice.DesignProspective survey registration of consecutive consultations regarding defensive medicine defined as: Actions that are not professionally well founded but are carried out due to demands and pressure. The GPs registered the degree of defensiveness, the type(s) of defensive action(s) and the reason(s) for acting defensively.SettingDanish general practice.SubjectsA total of 26 GPs registered a total of 1,758 consultations.Main Outcome MeasuresDefensive medical actions.ResultsDefensive actions were performed in 12% (210/1749) of all consultations. A fifth (46/210) of the defensive actions were characterised by the GPs as 'moderately' or 'highly' defensive. Frequent types of defensive actions were: blood tests, point-of-care-tests (POCTs) and referrals. Common reasons for defensive actions were: Influence from patients, 37% (78/210), concerns of overlooking severe disease, 32% (67/210) and influence from patient relatives, 12% (25/210).ConclusionDanish GPs registered self-perceived defensive actions in a prospective survey. DM was carried out in one out of eight consultations, most often due to patient influence. The most frequent defensive actions were blood tests, POCTs and referrals.

10 keywords...

hide…