What multisource feedback factors influence physician self-assessments? A five-year longitudinal study

BACKGROUND: Multisource feedback, in which medical colleagues, patients, coworkers, and the physician involved provide data, is a tool to inform physician practice. Its impact on physicians' self-assessment through two iterations is unknown. METHOD: Data from 250 family physicians in Alberta who participated in two iterations, five years apart-1999 and 2006-allowed the authors to determine the change in self-assessment scores, using a t test. A multiple regression was used to account for the variance in the scores from the second self-assessment by the data from the multisource feedback and sociodemographics from the first iteration. RESULTS: Physicians rated themselves higher in the second iteration. The linear regression model accounted for 27.4% of the variance in the ratings at the second iteration and incorporated data from the self-assessment. CONCLUSIONS: Physician self-assessment seems driven by stable perceptions that physicians hold about themselves and that may be slow to change.