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Effects of concurrent tasks on diagnostic decision making: An experimental investigation

Physicians’ decision-making performance is one of the most important factors in healthcare system engineering. Multitasking and interruptions while making diagnostic decisions have been frequently observed in the healthcare work environment. However, little evidence from controlled experiments is available to determine whether physician multitasking affects the quality and timely performance of diagnostic decisions. In the current study, we designed a diagnostic task to examine the effects of concurrent tasks on diagnostic decision making using a controlled laboratory experiment, in which potential confounding factors were controlled to allow the quantification of diagnostic performance and strategies. The results showed that diagnostic performance was negatively affected by a complex concurrent memorization task that required participants to listen to verbal updates and remember information about other patients while performing the diagnostic task. In contrast, a simple concurrent sound monitoring task did not affect diagnostic performance. Both types of concurrent tasks significantly increased mental workload. Diagnostic decision strategies were not significantly different between the single- and dual-task conditions. These findings provide new insights into the cognitive mechanisms underlying diagnostic decision and physician multitasking. Implications for the control and improvement of healthcare quality are discussed.