Prevalence of and factors associated with patient nondisclosure of medically relevant information to clinicians.

Diagnostic errors and delays may occur when patients fail to disclose medically relevant information. This study analyzed online survey responses from 4510 patients and found that about 70% reported not disclosing information. Disagreement with a clinician's recommendation or failure to understand a clinician's instructions were common. Patients most often did not disclose because they feared judgment from the clinician or felt embarrassed.