title: Can doctors predict patients' satisfaction and enablement? A cross-sectional observational study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patient satisfaction surveys are increasingly used to measure consulting quality and outcome, but little is known of how good doctors are at judging their patients' satisfaction with their consultations.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine if patient satisfaction and enablement following a consultation are correlated with both inexperienced and experienced doctors' predictions of patient satisfaction and doctors' own satisfaction with the consultation.
  
  
  METHODS
  
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional questionnaire-based observational study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Scottish general practices.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a post-consultation questionnaire we compared doctors' estimates of patient satisfaction with the consultation; doctors' own satisfaction with the consultation; scores on the Patient Enablement Instrument (PEI) and the Consultation Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-nine doctors and 1848 patients took part. Each doctor recorded an average of 63.7 (SD: 32.1) consultations. Patient measures of satisfaction and enablement were only weakly correlated with doctor predictions of patient satisfaction (rs=0.07 for PEI and 0.13 for CSQ; both P<0.01) or doctor satisfaction (rs=0.10 for PEI and 0.12 for CSQ; both P<0.01) with the consultation. They were, however, moderately well correlated (rs=0.50 P<0.01) with one another.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Doctors are poor at predicting patient satisfaction in the consultation. Further research is required to determine the reasons for this.
authors.affiliation: Community Health Sciences (RUHBC), Edinburgh University, Scotland, UK. brian.mckinstry@ed.ac.uk
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: McKinstry
authors.forename: Iain
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Colthart
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Walker
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010821:Physicians, Family; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012606:Scotland; D013222:State Medicine; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires