ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2014
Diagnosing headache in primary care: a qualitative study of GPs' approaches.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Defining and Measuring Diagnostic Uncertainty in Medicine: A Systematic Review.Journal of general internal medicine · 2018Pooled it
- Neurological Teleconsultations in General Practice: A Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA neurology · 2026Trial
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- Intergroup time bias and aversive racism in the medical context.Journal of personality and social psychology · 2024Article
- Complex Patient Navigation by Veteran Patients in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) for Chronic Headache Disease: A Qualitative Study.Journal of patient experience · 2023Article
- A machine learning approach to support triaging of primary versus secondary headache patients using complete blood count.PloS one · 2023Article
- Article
- Barriers and gaps in headache education: a national cross-sectional survey of neurology residents in Denmark.BMC medical education · 2022Article
- Article
- The management and clinical knowledge of headache disorders among general practitioners in Norway: a questionnaire survey.The journal of headache and pain · 2021Article
- Chiropractic student diagnosis and management of headache disorders: A survey examining self-perceived preparedness and clinical proficiency.The Journal of chiropractic education · 2021Article
- Understanding the diagnoses and medical care experience of patients with new daily persistent headache: a qualitative study in Spain.BMJ open · 2021Article
- Perceptions, experiences, and understandings of cluster headache among GPs and neurologists: a qualitative study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2020Article
- "Dr. Google, I am in Pain"-Global Internet Searches Associated with Pain: A Retrospective Analysis of Google Trends Data.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- The value of the GP's clinical judgement in predicting dementia: a multicentre prospective cohort study among patients in general practice.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2019Article
- Living with chronic migraine: a qualitative study on female patients' perspectives from a specialised headache clinic in Spain.BMJ open · 2017Article
- Individual utilisation thresholds and exploring how GPs' knowledge of their patients affects diagnosis: a qualitative study in primary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2017Article
- The Role of Physicians' First Impressions in the Diagnosis of Possible Cancers without Alarm Symptoms.Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making · 2017Article
- After Achilles.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHeadache is one of the most common symptoms in primary care. Most headaches are due to primary headaches and many headache sufferers do not receive a specific diagnosis. There is still a gap in research on how GPs diagnose and treat patients with headache.
aimTo identify GPs' diagnostic approaches in patients presenting with headache. DESIGN AND
settingQualitative study with 15 GPs in urban and rural practices.
methodInterviews (20-40 minutes) were conducted using a semi-structured interview guideline. GPs described their individual diagnostic strategies by means of patients presenting with headache that they had prospectively identified during the previous 4 weeks. Interviews were taped and transcribed verbatim. Qualitative analysis was conducted by two independent raters.
resultsRegarding GPs' general diagnostic approach to patients with headache, four broad themes emerged during the interviews: 'knowing the patient and their background', 'first impression during consultation', 'intuition and personal experience' and 'application of the test of time'. Four further themes were identified regarding the management of diagnostic uncertainty: 'identification of red flags', 'use of the familiarity heuristic', 'therapeutic trial', and 'triggers for patient referral'.
conclusionGPs apply different strategies in the early diagnostic phase when managing patients with headache. Identification of potential adverse outcomes accompanied by other strategies for handling uncertainty seem to be more important than an exact diagnosis. Established guidelines do not play a role in the diagnostic workup.
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