Think-aloud study about the diagnosis of chronic heart failure in Belgian general practice

OBJECTIVES: Diagnosing chronic heart failure (CHF) in general practice is challenging. Our aim was to investigate how general practitioners (GPs) diagnose CHF in real-world patients. DESIGN: Think-aloud study. METHODS: Fourteen GPs were asked to reason about four real-world CHF cases from their own practices. The cases were selected through a clinical audit. This was followed by an interview to get a deeper insight in their reasoning. The Qualitative Analysis Guide of Leuven was used as a guide in data analysis. RESULTS: We developed a conceptual diagnostic model based on three important reaso... Mehr ...