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Case clustering in infective endocarditis: the role of availability bias |
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| Authors: | J. Strahilevitz O. Zellermayer M. G. Vangel H. Yonath M. S. Feinberg E. Rubinstein |
| Affiliation: | Infectious Diseases Unit, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv;, Arison School of Business, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzeliya, Israel;, Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA;and Heart Institute, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel |
| Abstract: | Limited data exist regarding the impact of variations in clinical practice and physicians' cognitive bias on the diagnosis of infective endocarditis (IE). As an illustration of these effects, unexpected clustering of IE diagnosis was encountered in a prospectively studied cohort. Transoesophageal echocardiography examinations for suspected IE were performed more frequently following a diagnosis of IE, and were associated with a subsequent cluster of IE cases. The cognitive bias of physicians resulting from a recent case of IE can lead to a transient increase in diagnosing additional cases of IE. |
| Keywords: | Availability bias clustering diagnosis endocarditis epidemiology infective endocarditis |