Patient and physician perceptions of the physician's explanation and patient responses to physicians.
Although theories on meta-cognition and self-monitoring imply the importance of meta-cognition in patient-physician interactions, there is no evidence to support this hypothesis. Thus, we evaluated patient and physician perceptions of the level of a physician's explanation and explored the possible influence of patient meta-cognition on patient responses to physicians. We conducted a questionnaire survey of 579 internist-patient pairs in Japan. The findings show that patient meta-cognition, and not perception, of the sufficiency of a physician's explanation plays a critical role in determining extreme patient responses to a physician, such as ignoring the physician's advice and doctor-shopping, whereas patient perception is a predictor of milder patient responses such as patient understanding and satisfaction.
Hagihara
Akihito
A
Kyushu University, Japan. hagihara@hsmp.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp
Tarumi
Kimio
K
D000328:Adult; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations