Are Doctors Too Confident in Their Diagnostic Skills?
This tidbit of information probably wouldn't surprise many of us who have fibromyalgia (FMS) or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or ME/CFS) - according to a special edition of The American Journal of Medicine, doctors misdiagnose people about 15% of the time.
I'd guess the rate is probably a lot higher for some ailments than for others, especially when you consider conditions that don't come wrapped in neat little packages complete with reliable diagnostic tests.
According the the AJM, many doctors simply don't believe that their own error rate could be that high and pass the buck to "others who are less skillful or less careful."
The authors say it's usually the cases doctors see as routine and unchallenging that are most often misdiagnosed, while with harder cases they're more likely to seek out other opinions or use computerized diagnostic tools.
As scary as this is, it makes sense. Any math teacher will tell you it's the simple things like addition and subtraction that'll trip their algebra students. It's natural to pay less attention to something you feel like you've done a thousand times before.
While the diagnostic error rate isn't surprising to me (after all, I had a handful of misdiagnoses before my FMS was recognized), I wonder if we can use some of this information to our advantage.
Look at it this way: how often do you suppose a doctor hears, "I'm tired all the time"? Constantly. The answer? "Get more sleep" or "Take this pill."
Maybe something more specific, such as "I'm exhausted as if I had the flu and it takes me 2 days to recover from even a little bit of exertion" would get their attention.
For doctors who don't believe in these diseases, probably nothing will help. For the better ones, though, maybe it just takes a few key words or phrases to get them out of a mental rut and make them think a little harder about what you're saying.
How many times have you been misdiagnosed? Take the poll, and share your stories here or in About.com's Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome forum.
Comments
I believe that physicians become indifferent. It seems that the longer they are in practice, the more non-chalant they treat patients (esp. women who have many symptoms). They tend to overbook leaving about 15 min. per session. They rush to write a prescription telling one to return in a month. They don’t seem to really “listen” anymore. It gripes me because they make very good money and looking back, I feel that I was untreated for approx. 35 yrs. of my life. I find the same tactics being used today as were used 35 yrs. ago…treat a symptom without actually keeping a full history of the persons health on hand (and reading it beforehand…not just skimming through). In that way a more accurate dx can be made for that particular patient. It’s all about greed…that’s my honest opinion.
I don’t remember ever being misdiagnosed, but before being diagnosed with fibromyalgia I had a slew of doctors that just didn’t do anything, even when it got to the point where I was walking with a cane.
Nice point. If patients were more specific in the symptom of fatigue, as you worded it, I bet we’d start getting better responses from doctors. Not just that one person getting a better response, but each person afterward with fatigue would likely get a 2nd look to see if it’s “this” kind…
Let’s spread the word on this one!
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I’ve had my share of both good and bad appointments. One of my first doctor’s identified it, so after that I knew when I was getting snowed.
What I remember is purposefully grouping my symptoms into categories, and working on how I’d describe them the same way I’d work on finding good answers for interview questions. Both of these made it easier for doctors to understand me. However, for some doctors - no amount of intelligent input helps. They have a problem with the illness and that’s that. But for the rest - it worked well, and got me further than their initial poor reaction.
I became ill and had multiple symptoms that would not go away. I was sent to many doctors and they did not know what was wrong with me and didn’t take the time to try to figure it out. I was so frustrated, going from dr. to dr. trying to get well and finally on my own i went to a rheumatologist and he took the time to diagnose me and treat me. It is sad , that the world of medicine cares so little about these diseases, it is going to be the top disease of the century. There are so many of us that are very ill, we need more research and at least find something to help us. I take lots of meds and still feel bad thru my meds so where do we go from here? I as a nurse by trade . I know how these doctors can act. One thing is with the short time limit is so many people are sick and we need more doctors. Another point, they are getting paid well to treat us so if we are being mistreated, Find another doctor. Diane from ga.