Association of perceived physician communication style with patient satisfaction, distress, cancer-related self-efficacy, and perceived control over the disease

“The results thus confirmed hypothesis 1 and are in support of previous results showing that higher frequency of patient-centred behaviours is associated with greater patient satisfaction (Stewart, 1984; Roter et al, 1987; Ong et al, 1995).”

“…Ford et al, 1996), including greater symptom resolution, reduced stress, lower blood pressure in hypertensive patients (Orth et al, 1987), lower blood glucose levels in diabetics (Greenfield et al, 1988), and better postoperative pain control with reduced use of analgesics (Egbert et al, 1964).”

“Some studies have used direct observations of a limited number of consultations (Hall et al, 1988) or structured patient interviews (Stewart, 1984; Butow et al, 1994), while others have used questionnaires (Cantwell and Ramirez, 1997; Detmar et al, 2000).”

“This finding is in concordance with previous findings that even illusory positive beliefs of women with breast cancer about their disease and their ability to control disease were associated with positive mental health but independent of the objective medical evidence (Taylor et al, 1984).”

“Although recognition of psychological distress is a crucial aspect of patient care, oncologists often fail to detect general distress in patients (Ford et al, 1994; Cull et al, 1995; Fallowfield et al, 2001) and ask few questions regarding patients’ psychological health (Ford et al, 1996).”

“…Research UK Keywords: patient–physician relationship; communication skills; self-efficacy ; anxiety ; depression; anger Patient dissatisfaction can lead to low understanding and recall of information, poor compliance, lengthier recovery periods, and increased complication rates (Fallowfield, 1992).”

“Our results are in concordance with previous findings that a training course designed to enhance the physicians’ emotion-handling skills was associated with reduced emotional distress in patients (Roter et al, 1995).”

“The results thus confirmed hypothesis 1 and are in support of previous results showing that higher frequency of patient-centred behaviours is associated with greater patient satisfaction (Stewart, 1984; Roter et al, 1987; Ong et al, 1995).”

“Although recognition of psychological distress is a crucial aspect of patient care, oncologists often fail to detect general distress in patients (Ford et al, 1994; Cull et al, 1995; Fallowfield et al, 2001) and ask few questions regarding patients’ psychological health (Ford et al, 1996).”

“The results thus confirmed hypothesis 1 and are in support of previous results showing that higher frequency of patient-centred behaviours is associated with greater patient satisfaction (Stewart, 1984; Roter et al, 1987; Ong et al, 1995).”

“…that patients want technical expertise rather than good communication, this illogically implying an either/or situation (Fallowfield, 1992), and it has been shown that cancer patients are in fact generally willing to address their emotional and psychosocial functioning (Detmar et al, 2000).”

“It should be noted that several factors, including expectations, aspirations, and perceived health status may influence and confound measurements of satisfaction of seriously ill patients (Avis et al, 1995; Fakhoury, 1998).”

“Although recognition of psychological distress is a crucial aspect of patient care, oncologists often fail to detect general distress in patients (Ford et al, 1994; Cull et al, 1995; Fallowfield et al, 2001) and ask few questions regarding patients’ psychological health (Ford et al, 1996).”

“Research suggests that cancer patients who report greater efficacy with respect to their capacity to cope with the disease and its treatment are better adjusted and experience greater quality of life than patients who feel less efficacious (Merluzzi et al, 2001).”

“Some studies have used direct observations of a limited number of consultations (Hall et al, 1988) or structured patient interviews (Stewart, 1984; Butow et al, 1994), while others have used questionnaires (Cantwell and Ramirez, 1997; Detmar et al, 2000).”

“…outcomes (Stewart, 1995; Ford et al, 1996), including greater symptom resolution, reduced stress, lower blood pressure in hypertensive patients (Orth et al, 1987), lower blood glucose levels in diabetics (Greenfield et al, 1988), and better postoperative pain control with reduced use of…”

“…UK C li n ic a l medical interview or general health education programmes, on patient self-efficacy, has been studied in several patient groups (Gifford et al, 1998; Tennstedt, 2000), we are not aware of any studies specifically investigating the association between physician communication…”

“This is considerably fewer than the median 38% dissatisfied hospital outpatients reported by Ley (1988), and could perhaps be a result of the cutoff used when dichotomising the data.”

“Patients who are less healthy have been found to be less satisfied than healthier patients (Hall et al, 1998), a finding that is confirmed by our findings that patients in palliative care were less satisfied than the remaining patients.”

“Although recognition of psychological distress is a crucial aspect of patient care, oncologists often fail to detect general distress in patients (Ford et al, 1994; Cull et al, 1995; Fallowfield et al, 2001) and ask few questions regarding patients’ psychological health (Ford et al, 1996).”

“Some studies have used direct observations of a limited number of consultations (Hall et al, 1988) or structured patient interviews (Stewart, 1984; Butow et al, 1994), while others have used questionnaires (Cantwell and Ramirez, 1997; Detmar et al, 2000).”

“…Barthsgade 5,3, 8200 Århus N, Denmark ; E-mail: bzach@akh.aaa.dk British Journal of Cancer (2003) 88, 658 – 665 & 2003 Cancer Research UK All rights reserved 0007 – 0920/03 $25.00 www.bjcancer.com C lin ic a l increased adherence to treatment, and positive treatment outcomes (Tennstedt, 2000).”

“As a consequence, cancer patients often feel they lack information, which can lead to uncertainty, anxiety and depression (Newall et al, 1987).”

“It should be noted that several factors, including expectations, aspirations, and perceived health status may influence and confound measurements of satisfaction of seriously ill patients (Avis et al, 1995; Fakhoury, 1998).”

“Clinicians can facilitate the patient’s ability to manage emotions by presenting diagnostic and treatment information clearly and honestly [72], by showing interest in the patient’s life [73], by attentive listening, and by validating patient’s expressions of feelings [65,74].”