‘More than words’: interpersonal communication, cognitive bias and diagnostic errors (January 2022)

Summary

During the diagnostic process, clinicians may make assumptions, prematurely judge or diagnose patients based on their appearance, their speech or how they are portrayed by other clinicians. Such judgements can be a major source of diagnostic error and are often linked to unconscious cognitive biases - faulty quick-fire thinking patterns that impact clinical reasoning. Patient safety is profoundly influenced by cognitive bias and language, i.e. how information is presented or gathered, and then synthesised by clinicians to form and communicate diagnostic decisions.

Here, authors discuss the intricate links between interpersonal communication, cognitive bias, and diagnostic error from a patient's, a linguist's and clinician's perspective. They propose that through patient engagement and applied health communication research, we can enhance our understanding of how the interplay of communication behaviours, biases and errors can impact upon the patient experience and diagnostic error. In doing so, they provide new avenues for collaborative diagnostic error research striving towards healthcare improvements and safer diagnosis.

This year’s World Patient Safety Day on 17 September 2024 (WPSD 2024) is focused on the theme “Improving diagnosis for patient safety”. Find out more.