title: The physicians' recognition and attitude about patient education in practice.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the current status of physicians' recognition and their attitude towards patient education in actual clinical practice. We sent surveys containing self-questionnaires to one-hundred and fifty physicians in five university hospitals and one general hospital from the period of April to July 1995. The self-questionnaire was designed to evaluate the physicians' recognition and attitude towards patient education at his or her clinical practice. A total of 137 answered-sheets were returned and they were subsequently analyzed. 1) The frequency of physicians' recognition of patient education as an essential component in practice was 76.6%. There was a significant difference between family physicians and other physicians, 97.1% 69.6%, respectively (p = 0.03). 2) The frequency of physicians' accomplishment of a satisfactory doctor-patient relationship was 51.1%; board certified physicians and residents, 79.4%, 43.3%, respectively (p = 0.001). 3) The percentage of physicians who explained details about examinations and procedures was 73.0%, who interpreted the findings of exams, tests and x-rays 72.3%, but who assessed patient readiness to modify behavior was only 29.9%. The frequency of physicians' education to patient about the biomedical diagnosis and treatment was high, but that of physicians' approach towards patient as a biopsychosocial model was relatively low. Therefore, it is concluded that much more time and emphasis should be placed on patient education in the undergraduate and postgraduate medical education curricula.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Asan Medical Center, College of Medicine, Ulsan University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires