Observational studyJournal of general internal medicine2022
Prospective Observational Study on the Prevalence and Diagnostic Value of General Practitioners' Gut Feelings for Cancer and Serious Diseases.
Observational study in Journal of general internal medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Gut feeling for the diagnosis of cancer in general practice: a diagnostic accuracy review.BMJ open · 2023Pooled it
- Variations in the investigation of colorectal cancer-related symptoms in Australian primary care: a retrospective cohort study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Article
- Patients' perceptions on reasons for self-referring to the emergency department shortly before a cancer diagnosis: a qualitative study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Article
- Physicians' appraisal of parental concerns: a qualitative assessment.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Article
- A Reflective Verbalization Strategy to Trigger Alternative Diagnostic Hypotheses.Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2025Article
- Diagnostic Reasoning in Surgical Pathology.Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2025Article
- Prevalence and characteristics of the 'bad feeling' among healthcare professionals in the context of emergency situations: A Bi-Hospital Survey.Journal of clinical nursing · 2025Article
- The Impact and Wider Implications of Remote Consultations for General Practice in Norway: Qualitative Study Among Norwegian Contract General Practitioners.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- A qualitative exploration of the pathway to diagnosis and treatment of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck with perineural spread.Cancer medicine · 2024Article
- Acute internal medicine physicians' clinical intuition based on acute care telephone referral: A prospective study.PloS one · 2024Article
- Patients' gut feelings seem useful in primary care professionals' decision making.BMC primary care · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGeneral practitioners (GPs) have recognized the presence of gut feelings in their diagnostic process. However, little is known about the frequency or determinants of gut feelings or the diagnostic value of gut feelings for cancer and other serious diseases.
objectiveTo assess the prevalence of gut feelings in general practice, examine their determinants and impact on patient management, and measure their diagnostic value for cancer and other serious diseases.
designThis prospective observational study was performed using the Gut Feelings Questionnaire (GFQ).
participantsParticipants included 155 GPs and 1487 of their patients, from four Spanish provinces. MAIN MEASURES: Sociodemographic data from patients and GPs; the reasoning style of GPs; the characteristics of the consultation; the presence and kind of gut feeling; the patient's subsequent contacts with the health system; and new cancer and serious disease diagnoses reported at 2 and 6 months post-consultation. KEY
resultsGPs experienced a gut feeling during 97% of the consultations: a sense of reassurance in 75% of consultations and a sense of alarm in 22% of consultations. A sense of alarm was felt at higher frequency given an older patient, the presence of at least one cancer-associated symptom, or a non-urban setting. GPs took diagnostic action more frequently after a sense of alarm. After 2 months, the sense of alarm had a sensitivity of 59% for cancer and other serious diseases (95% CI 47-71), a specificity of 79% (95% CI 77-82), a positive predictive value of 12% (95% CI 9-16), and a negative predictive value of 98% (95% CI 86-98).
conclusionsGut feelings are consistently present in primary care medicine, and they play a substantial role in a GP's clinical reasoning and timely diagnosis of serious disease. The sense of alarm must be taken seriously and used to support diagnostic evaluation in patients with a new reason for encounter.
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