Reliability of distance estimation by doctors and patients: cross sectional study.
cross_sectional · Level IV
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 9448528.
- Also identified by PMC identifier 2128034.
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Abstract
To assess the reliability and accuracy of distance estimated by doctors and patients. Comparison between estimated and measured distances of six familiar sites around Guy's Hospital, London. 100 hospital consultants and 100 patients. Median (range) of estimated distances, and mean (SD) of the difference between estimated and measured distances. Both doctors and patients gave a wide range of estimates of distance. The estimates differed by up to 14.6-fold from the measured distances, and the difference between minimum and maximum estimates was up to 62.5-fold. Doctors and patients were inaccurate at estimating distances, which implies that estimates of distances walked are not reliable indicators of a person's health.
Medical subject headings
- Distance Perception
- Patients
- Physicians