Doctor patient communication literature review

Doctor patient communication literature review

We review the literature on doctor-patient communication. Doctor-patient communication is the heart and art of medicine, which helps in the proper identification of patients' desires, Estimated Reading Time: 10 mins Abstract. Communication can be seen as the main ingredient in medical care. In reviewing doctor-patient communication, the following topics are addressed: (1) different purposes of medical communication; (2) analysis of doctor-patient communication; (3) specific communicative behaviors; (4) the influence of communicative behaviors on patient outcomes; and (5) concluding blogger.com by: Communication is an essential component of the medical care process, 8, 28 and through the therapeutic physician-patient relationship, patients are informed about their regimens, encouraged and supported in their motivation, and offered assistance in gathering and using needed resources to adhere. 29 Patient nonadherence continues to be a

Doctor-patient communication: a review of the literature

Try out PMC Labs and tell us what you think. Learn More. Effective doctor-patient communication is a doctor patient communication literature review clinical function in building a therapeutic doctor-patient relationship, which is the heart and art of medicine.

This is important in the delivery of high-quality health care. Much patient dissatisfaction and many complaints are due to breakdown in the doctor-patient relationship. However, many doctors tend to overestimate their ability in communication. Over the years, much has been published in the literature on this important topic.

We review the literature on doctor-patient communication. A doctor's communication and interpersonal skills encompass the ability to gather information in order to facilitate accurate diagnosis, counsel appropriately, give therapeutic instructions, and establish caring relationships with patients. Basic communication skills in isolation are insufficient to create and sustain a successful doctor patient communication literature review doctor-patient relationship, which consists of shared perceptions and feelings regarding the nature of the problem, goals of treatment, and psychosocial support.

The ultimate objective of any doctor-patient communication is to improve the patient's health and medical care. Patient surveys have consistently shown that they want better communication with their doctors.

The principles of patient-centered medicine date back to the ancient Greek school of Cos. For example, doctor patient communication literature review, in the s to s, most doctors considered it inhumane and detrimental to patients to disclose bad news because of the bleak treatment prospect for cancers.

Information exchange is the dominant communication model, and the health consumer movement has led to the current model of shared decision making and patient-centered communication. Effective doctor-patient communication is a central clinical function, and the resultant communication is the heart and art of medicine and a central component in the delivery of health care.

Good doctor-patient communication has the potential to help regulate patients' emotions, facilitate comprehension of medical information, and allow for better identification of patients' needs, perceptions, and expectations. Studies have shown correlations between a sense of control and the ability to tolerate pain, doctor patient communication literature review, recovery from illness, decreased tumor growth, and daily functioning, doctor patient communication literature review.

A more patient-centered encounter results in better patient as well as doctor satisfaction. There are many barriers to good communication in the doctor-patient relationship, including patients' anxiety and fear, doctors' burden of work, fear of litigation, fear of physical or verbal abuse, and unrealistic patient expectations. It has been observed that communication skills tend to decline as medical students progress through their medical education, and over time doctors in training tend to lose their focus on holistic patient care.

The doctor-patient interaction is a complex process, and serious miscommunication is a potential pitfall, especially in terms of patients' understanding of their prognosis, purpose of care, expectations, and involvement in treatment.

There are reported observations of doctors avoiding discussion of the emotional and social impact of patients' problems because it distressed them when they could not handle these issues or they did not have the time to do so adequately. This situation negatively affected doctors emotionally and tended to increase patients' distress.

Physicians have been found to discourage patients from voicing their concerns and expectations as well as requests for more information. Today, patients have recognized that they are not passive recipients and are able to resist the power and expert authority that society grants doctors. This was illustrated in their study when female patients from a lower socioeconomic demographic in the Appalachian region of the United States modified advice to avoid sun exposure and, by taking into account societal pressures that equated tanned skin with beauty, continued tanning despite knowledge of the risks associated with sun exposure and skin cancer Figure.

The study by Lee and Garvin 35 demonstrates the need to take into account social factors in the production, dissemination, and use of knowledge. Communication skills involve both style and content. Improved doctor-patient communication tends to increase patient involvement and adherence to recommended therapy; influence patient satisfaction, adherence, and health care utilization; and improve quality of care and health outcomes. Breaking bad news to patients is a complex and challenging communication task doctor patient communication literature review the practice of medicine.

Baile et al 12 reported that patients often regard their doctors as one of their most important sources of psychological support. Empathy is one of the most powerful ways of providing this support to reduce patients' feelings of isolation and validating their feelings or thoughts as normal and to be expected. Doctors are not born with excellent communication skills, as they have different innate talents. Instead they can understand the theory of good doctor-patient communication, learn and practice these skills, and be capable of modifying their communication style if there is sufficient motivation and incentive for self-awareness, self-monitoring, doctor patient communication literature review, and training.

Collaborative communication is a reciprocal and dynamic relationship, involving the 2-way exchange of information. Feudtner 41 described situations in pediatric palliative care in which the cause of conflicts was often not expressed. The root source was often unspoken and thus unclear or unknown to one or even both parties, which generated feelings of discord, doctor patient communication literature review.

Conflict is often a challenging situation as it can evoke feelings of helplessness, frustration, confusion, anger, uncertainty, failure, or sadness. In addition to minimizing avoidance behavior, which prevents patients from expressing opinions, effective doctor-patient communication should involve productive conversation, which involves understanding of both parties' perspectives, by shifting from a perspective that is rigidly certain of one's belief to a more exploratory approach that strives to understand the situation from another perspective.

Beliefs and values affect the doctor-patient relationship and interaction. It is important to identify and address perceived barriers and benefits of treatment to improve patient adherence to medical plans by ensuring that the benefits and importance of doctor patient communication literature review are understood. Patients construct their own version of adherence according to their personal world views and social contexts, which can result in a divergent expectation of adherence practice.

Clinical research will guide improvements in determining best practice. Randomized controlled trials are able to effectively control bias and chance in evaluating efficacy. However, this is easier said than done in terms of investigations of communication. A majority of the studies reported in this review were cross-sectional. The approaches used in assessing doctor-patient communication and health outcomes in the literature are shown in the Table.

Comparisons between studies are difficult as numerous tools are available but no single tool is completely satisfactory. Different studies use combinations of different tools for this reason, doctor patient communication literature review. In addition, items are generated for measurement of patient perceptions without predefined categories of doctors' behaviors. Qualitative measures, although difficult to gauge, can provide a deeper understanding of patients' subjective perceptions.

Clinically the most easily quantified outcomes are physiological measures, but these may not be possible in many surgical or chronic illnesses. Satisfaction contributes to better medical outcomes through fulfillment of patients' values and expectations.

The main independent predictors of satisfaction have been patients' perceptions of communication and partnership, and a positive doctor approach. A majority of the literature frequently uses patient satisfaction and adherence to determine the efficacy of the doctor-patient relationship.

Doctor-patient communication is a major component of the process of health care. Hippocrates suggested that doctors may influence patients' health. Most complaints about doctors are related to issues of communication, not clinical competency.

Doctors with better communication and interpersonal skills are able to detect problems earlier, can prevent medical crises and expensive intervention, and provide better support to their patients. This may lead to higher-quality outcomes and better satisfaction, lower costs of care, doctor patient communication literature review, greater patient understanding of health issues, and better adherence to the treatment process.

National Center for Biotechnology InformationU. National Library of Medicine Rockville Pikedoctor patient communication literature review, Bethesda MDUSA.

NCBI Skip to main content Skip to navigation Resources How To About NCBI Accesskeys My NCBI Sign in to Doctor patient communication literature review Sign Out. PMC US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health. Search database Doctor patient communication literature review All Databases Assembly Biocollections BioProject BioSample BioSystems Books ClinVar Conserved Domains dbGaP dbVar Gene Genome GEO DataSets GEO Profiles GTR HomoloGene Identical Protein Groups MedGen MeSH NCBI Web Site NLM Catalog Nucleotide OMIM PMC PopSet Doctor patient communication literature review Protein Clusters Protein Family Models PubChem BioAssay PubChem Compound PubChem Substance PubMed SNP SRA Doctor patient communication literature review Taxonomy ToolKit ToolKitAll ToolKitBookgh Search term.

Journal List Ochsner J v. Ochsner J. PMCID: PMC Author information Copyright and License information Disclaimer. Address correspondence to: Jennifer Fong Ha, MBBS, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Hospital Avenue, NedlandsWestern Australia, Tel: 60 8Fax: 60 8Email: ua. oohay 18ahnej. Copyright Academic Division of Ochsner Clinic Foundation. This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Abstract Effective doctor-patient communication is a central clinical function in building a therapeutic doctor-patient relationship, which is the heart and art of medicine.

Keywords: Benefits, communication, doctor-patient relationship, review, strategies. THE PROBLEMS There are many barriers to good communication in the doctor-patient relationship, including patients' anxiety and fear, doctors' burden of work, fear of litigation, fear of physical or verbal abuse, and unrealistic patient expectations.

Nondisclosure of Information The doctor-patient interaction is a complex process, and serious miscommunication is a potential pitfall, especially in terms of patients' understanding of their prognosis, purpose of care, expectations, and involvement in treatment.

Doctors' Avoidance Behavior There are doctor patient communication literature review observations of doctors avoiding discussion of the emotional and social impact of patients' problems because it distressed them when they could not handle these issues or they did not have the time to do so adequately. Discouragement of Collaboration Physicians have been found to discourage patients from voicing their concerns and expectations as well as requests for more information. Resistance by Patients Today, patients have recognized that they are not passive recipients and are able to resist the power and expert authority that society grants doctors.

Open in a separate window. Example of influences that a patient takes into account on the doctor's advice, doctor patient communication literature review. Communication Training Doctors are not born with excellent communication skills, as they have different innate talents.

Collaborative Communication Collaborative communication is a reciprocal and dynamic relationship, involving the 2-way exchange of information. Conflict Management Feudtner 41 described situations in pediatric palliative care in which the cause of conflicts was often not expressed.

Health Beliefs Beliefs and values affect the doctor-patient relationship and interaction. Hall J. Communication of affect between patient and physician. J Health Soc Behav. Duffy F. Assessing competence in communication and interpersonal skills: the Kalamazoo II report.

Acad Med. van Zanten M. Assessing the communication and interpersonal skills of graduates of international medical schools as part of the United States Medical Licensing Exam USMLE Step 2 Clinical Skills CS Exam.

Brédart A. Doctor-patient communication and satisfaction with care in oncology. Curr Opin Oncol. Brinkman W.

Doctor Patient Communication Webinar Case Studies

, time: 7:11

Effects of exam room EHR use on doctor-patient communication: a systematic literature review

PDF | On Jan 1, , Swastika Chandra and others published Trust and Communication in a Doctor- Patient Relationship: A Literature Review. | Find, read and cite all the research you need on Estimated Reading Time: 4 mins Effects of exam room EHR use on doctor-patient communication: a systematic literature review. We noted both positive and negative effects of EHR use. This review highlights the need for increased EHR-specific communication training to mitigate adverse effects and Cited by: 84 Similarly, poor communication between the hospital and social care providers is a long-standing risk factor in adverse events. 27, 29, 88 There remains little extensive research, however, examining the causes of poor communication and adverse events. 29, 89 Less is known about how communication breakdowns and patient safety are experienced by