Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
7328085 | Social Science & Medicine | 2018 | 12 Pages |
Abstract
We find widespread positive attitudes towards the test among patients and healthcare workers. Patients' views are influenced by an understanding of CRP POCT as a comprehensive blood test that provides specific diagnosis and that corresponds to notions of good care. Healthcare workers use the test to support their negotiations with patients but also to legitimise ethical decisions in an increasingly restrictive antibiotic policy environment. We hypothesise that CRP POCT could entail greater patient adherence to recommended antibiotic treatment, but it could also encourage riskier health behaviour and entail potentially adverse equity implications for patients across generations and socioeconomic strata. Our empirical findings inform the clinical literature on increasingly propagated point-of-care biomarker tests to guide antibiotic prescriptions, and we contribute to the anthropological and sociological literature through a novel conceptualisation of the patient-health system interface as an activity space into which biomarker testing is introduced.
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Authors
Marco J. Haenssgen, Nutcha Charoenboon, Thomas Althaus, Rachel C. Greer, Daranee Intralawan, Yoel Lubell,