Health care provider communicator style and patient comprehension of oral contraceptive use.
OBJECTIVE
To explore reasons for the incorrect usage of oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) by examining the relationship between patients' abilities to comprehend and/or recall information presented to them by nurse practitioners (NPs) and the communicator style of their NP.


METHODS
A convenience sample of 46 OCP users completed an instrument designed to test their comprehension of OCP use and an instrument designed to measure the communicator style of their NP.


CONCLUSIONS
A multiple stepwise regression revealed that attentive and friendly communicator styles were positive predictors and the communicator image and dramatic styles were negative predictors of comprehension.


CONCLUSIONS
Unwanted pregnancies that result from non-compliance with OCP regimens can have significant social and financial effects. A lack of understanding of proper OCP use may depend on the style of communication a NP uses to convey crucial information regarding the regimen.
Schrader
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Nurse Practitioner Program, University of Oklahoma, USA. Betsy-Schrader@ouhsc.edu
Schrader
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DC
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003142:Communication; D003144:Communication Barriers; D003276:Contraceptives, Oral; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D024802:Nurse's Role; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations
D003276:Contraceptives, Oral