Science and Set in Treatment Decisions
MYRON G. SANDIFER JR. M.D.1
1 Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky. 40506
This pilot study attempted to explain why psychiatrists differ in their decisions regarding treatment. Differences over the usage of phenothiazines were best explained by differences in diagnosis; differences in psychotherapy were best explained by the psychiatrists' "set" regarding psychotherapy. However, differences regarding the decision to hospitalize a patient could not be accounted for.
