[ID 55311] CONHECIMENTO, ACURÁCIA DIAGNÓSTICA E ESFORÇO MENTAL DURANTE RESOLUÇÃO DE CASO CLÍNICO POR ESTUDANTES DE MEDICINA

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN KNOWLEDGE, DIAGNOSTIC ACCURACY AND MENTAL EFFORT DURING CLINICAL CASE RESOLUTION BY MEDICAL STUDENTS

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The understanding of the cognitive processes involved in the development of clinical reasoning is the focus of attention for researchers in medical education worldwide. This work aims to describe the relationship between diagnostic accuracy, mental effort and perception of previous knowledge in a sample of medical students exposed to clinical cases of pneumonia. METHOD: Sixty-one medical students from the fourth year analyzed clinical cases of pneumonia (bacterial, with pleural and viral effusion) and determined probable diagnosis, degree of mental effort for this task and degree of prior knowledge of these pathologies. The relationship between these variables was assessed by a Pearson correlation study and Principal Component Analysis. RESULTS: One third of the students correctly diagnosed cases of bacterial and viral pneumonia, only 10% of them correctly diagnosed pneumonia with pleural effusion. The students reported less prior knowledge and greater perception of mental effort in solving this case. The relationship between accuracy and mental effort was inverse and statistically significant only for the case of viral pneumonia (r: -0.3503, p = 0.0056). In all cases there was a significant and inversely proportional association between prior knowledge and mental effort. CONCLUSIONS: The relationship between greater perception of prior knowledge about the disease, greater diagnostic accuracy and less mental effort was not observed in this study. It is necessary to stimulate research that improves the processes involved in the mobilization of cognitive resources to carry out correct diagnoses, enhancing teaching strategies that culminate in better diagnostic accuracy with a lower degree of mental effort.