BMJ  2007;334:325 (17 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.39121.361910.80

Editorials

Reassuring patients about normal test results

Face to face communication strategies are effective

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Every practising doctor recognises that normal test results can fail to reassure patients. One possible cause is that suboptimal reassurance strategies leave some patients distressed about their symptoms.¹ Uncertainty about the meaning or accuracy of normal test results may contribute to making symptoms worse and lead to additional costly and unnecessary medical visits and diagnostic procedures. Despite this, the medical literature provides little guidance about how to discuss normal findings with patients.

The study by Petrie and colleagues in this week's BMJ is one of the few to examine ways of providing reassurance about normal test results.² The findings of this randomised controlled trial show that patients with chest pain who received an intervention comprising an information pamphlet plus a brief pretest discussion with a health psychologist about the implications of "normal" results of an exercise stress test were more reassured by normal findings than patients who received the pamphlet . . . [Full text of this article]

¹ University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS 39216, USA, ² Center for Sleep Evaluation, Elliot Hospital, Manchester, NH 03103, USA

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

Lack of insurance, reassurance, and safety assurance

Douglas Kamerow
BMJ 2007 334: -a0-a. [Extract] [Full Text]

Effect of providing information about normal test results on patients' reassurance: randomised controlled trial

Keith J Petrie, Jan Tobias Müller, Frederike Schirmbeck, Liesje Donkin, Elizabeth Broadbent, Christopher J Ellis, Greg Gamble, and Winfried Rief
BMJ 2007 334: 352. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

ABC of psychological medicine: Beginning treatment

Jonathan Price and Laurence Leaver
BMJ 2002 325: 33-35. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Chest pain in people with normal coronary anatomy

Gurjinder Nijher, John Weinman, Christopher Bass, and John Chambers
BMJ 2001 323: 1319-1320. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Telling patients there is nothing wrong

Ray Fitzpatrick
BMJ 1996 313: 311-312. [Extract] [Full Text]

Opening Pandora's box: the unpredictability of reassurance by a normal test result

I G McDonald, J Daly, V M Jelinek, F Panetta, and J M Gutman
BMJ 1996 313: 329-332. [Abstract] [Full Text]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

The name of the test could be the problem!

Ragai Shaban, et al.
bmj.com, 7 Mar 2007 [Full text]

Communication with patients and Good Medical Practise

Rohit Sinha
bmj.com, 7 Mar 2007 [Full text]

Online poll

Find out more >>