Study finds that many patients withhold information from doctors

Patient failure to disclose medically relevant information to clinicians can undermine patient care or even lead to patient harm. A recent survey study examined the frequency of patients failing to disclose to their clinicians information that is relevant to their care and their reasons for doing so. Researchers found that many respondents intentionally withhold important information from their clinicians and were most likely to do so when they disagreed with or misunderstood their clinician’s instructions.

Current and former CBSSM-affiliated faculty and staff were co-authors of this study.