This Yorkshire and Humber ARC study investigated whether emergency doctors’ ability to tolerate uncertainty (UT) affects patient outcomes and healthcare resource use.
The researchers examined data from 39 emergency doctors and 384 patient cases. They found that higher UT was not associated with worse patient outcomes or higher resource use, although there were some small associations suggesting higher UT may lead to slightly lower resource utilisation. Additionally, doctors with higher UT reported higher resilience and lower burnout. While the findings were not definitive, the study suggests that interventions to help emergency doctors better manage uncertainty could benefit the doctors themselves without negatively impacting patient care.
