Evaluating the scripts and thresholds of general practitioners for diagnosing heart failure in elderly people

Multiple diagnostic algorithms for heart failure exist. However, it is unclear whether these algorithms are incorporated in the 'scripts' clinicians use in every day practice. Scripts are networks of organised knowledge that are acquired and accumulated during clinical training and are refined with each clinical encounter. This study was conducted to evaluate the scripts and thresholds that GPs use to diagnose heart failure in patients aged 75 years and older.status: publishe