Background: Clinical decision-making (CDM) is an important competency for young doctors especially under\ncomplex and uncertain conditions in geriatric emergency medicine (GEM). However, research in this field is\ncharacterized by vague conceptualizations of CDM. To evolve and evaluate evidence-based knowledge of CDM, it is\nimportant to identify different definitions and their operationalizations in studies on GEM.\nObjective: A scoping review of empirical articles was conducted to provide an overview of the documented\nevidence of findings and conceptualizations of CDM in GEM.\nMethods: A detailed search for empirical studies focusing on CDM in a GEM setting was conducted in PubMed,\nProQuest, Scopus, EMBASE and Web of Science. In total, 52 publications were included in the analysis, utilizing a\ndata extraction sheet, following the PRISMA guidelines. Reported outcomes were summarized.\nResults: Four themes of operationalization of CDM emerged: CDM as dispositional decisions, CDM as cognition,\nCDM as a model, and CDM as clinical judgement. Study results and conclusions naturally differed according to how\nCDM was conceptualized. Thus, frailty-heuristics lead to biases in treatment of geriatric patients and the complexity\nof this patient group was seen as a challenge for young physicians engaging in CDM.\nConclusions: This scoping review summarizes how different studies in GEM use the term CDM. It provides an\nanalysis of findings in GEM and call for more stringent definitions of CDM in future research, so that it might lead\nto better clinical practice.
Loading....