Doctors hate ambiguity

In 2005, University of Rochester researchers published a study on medical ambiguity. Led by psychologist David Seaburn, the investigators hired actors to pose as patients and visit local physicians. During some visits, the "patients" described the classic symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux. During other visits, ambiguous symptoms were described: some emotional stress, dizziness, fatigue, and mysterious chest pains. Each visit was secretly audiotaped, and then the researchers transcribed and coded the physician-patient interactions. Their results were troubling. Twenty-two percent of the time, the physicians simply ignored the ambiguity. For instance, after a patient described "vague symptoms of general chest pain," the doctor would respond with a statement of "fact": "Your pain is caused by gastroesophageal reflux." The doctors simply were not inclined to discuss the ambiguous symptoms.