title: [Patient's understanding of their illness and patient-doctor relationship in the out-patient clinic (author's transl)].
abstract: 96 randomised outpatients of the Medical University Policlinic at Basle were interviewed at their first medical examination: 88 patients were told their diagnosis. Afterwards 76 were able to name the diagnosis correctly, with 55% showing good, 26% mediocre and 19% insufficient understanding of their illness. This understanding was influenced by profession, age and sex. With the aid of 25 medical terms familiar to a layman, basic medical knowledge of the patient was tested. Half of the questions were answered correctly, with a good correlation between understanding of the disease and basic medical knowledge. Half the patients complained of having insufficient comprehension of the medical explanation of their illness, the main reason being the use of latin terms by the doctors. Better medical information of the public, and conscientious and comprehensive explanation of the illness by the doctor are obviously essential conditions for the better understanding of his disease by the patient.
mesh_terms: D000553:Ambulatory Care; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009790:Occupations; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D012737:Sex Factors; D012803:Sick Role; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013557:Switzerland
vernacular_title: Krankheitsverständnis und Patienten-Arzt-Beziehung in der Ambulanz.