title: Patient requests in a family practice setting.
abstract: The objectives of this study were to determine empirically the range of requests of persons seeking medical care and the relationship between request patterns and sociodemographic characteristics of patients. One-hundred and twenty-nine adult patients of a family medicine clinic completed a 34-item request inventory composed of seven hypothetical request categories. Factor analysis showed that four factors could explain 60% of the overall variance in responses. Analysis of variance using these four request categories (Psychosocial, Medical Explanation, Supportive Communication, Test Results/Reassurance) as dependent variables indicated significant differences in the requests of patients from various socio-economic backgrounds. Individuals who were single, divorced, Medicaid users, or recipients of free health-care service requested more psychosocial assistance than others. These results serve to underscore the importance of eliciting and identifying patient requests, keeping accurate records of patient demographics, and utilizing this information when creating, negotiating, and implementing treatment plans for individual patients.
authors.affiliation: Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Mockapetris
authors.forename: F C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Craigie
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States