Study finds medical records often miss women’s reported health struggles
A recent study paired electronic medical records with interviews of 87 women to compare documented data against their lived experiences in the United States.
Interviews reveal widespread mistrust
Fifty-three of the interviewed women described a trust-breaking encounter with the health system. Only seven of those women had medical records that documented this mistrust. Thirty-two women reported experiencing a misdiagnosis, but records showed documentation for only eight cases.
Disrespect goes undocumented
Thirty women stated that clinicians treated them with disrespect during their visits. None of these instances appeared in the official clinical notes. The study authors noted that electronic records frequently failed to capture negative patient interactions.
Records shift after surgery
One participant named Kate lived with pelvic pain for over a decade before bariatric surgery. Her doctors previously attributed her symptoms to obesity in the notes. After she lost significant weight, the clinical records became optimistic about her health.
Reported by one outlet
Only one outlet has published this. Nothing here has been checked against a second report, so read it as that outlet's account and follow the link below for the original.
Reported by
1 independent outlet. Headline as published. Links open the original report.