title: Doctor-Patient Relationship Between Individuals With Fibromyalgia and Rheumatologists in Public and Private Health Care in Mexico.
abstract: The aim of this article was to describe and analyze the doctor-patient relationship between fibromyalgia patients and rheumatologists in public and private health care contexts within the Mexican health care system. This medical anthropological study drew on hospital ethnography and patients' illness narratives, as well as the experiences of rheumatologists from both types of health care services. The findings show how each type of medical care subsystem shape different relationships between patients and doctors. Patient stigmatization, overt rejection, and denial of the disease's existence were identified. In this doctor-patient-with-fibromyalgia relationship, there are difficult encounters, rather than difficult patients. These encounters are more fluid in private consultations compared with public hospitals. The doctor-centered health care model is prevalent in public institutions. In the private sector, we find the characteristics of the patient-centered model coexisting with the traditional physician-centered approach.
authors: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors: Tirsa
authors: T
authors: Colmenares-Roa
authors: Hospital General de México "Eduardo Liceaga," Mexico City, Mexico.
authors: Gabriela
authors: G
authors: Huerta-Sil
authors: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors: Claudia
authors: C
authors: Infante-Castañeda
authors: Hospital General de México "Eduardo Liceaga," Mexico City, Mexico.
authors: Leticia
authors: L
authors: Lino-Pérez
authors: Hospital General de México "Eduardo Liceaga," Mexico City, Mexico.
authors: Everardo
authors: E
authors: Alvarez-Hernández
authors: Hospital General de México "Eduardo Liceaga," Mexico City, Mexico pelaezin@prodigy.net.mx.
authors: Ingris
authors: I
authors: Peláez-Ballestas
mesh_terms: D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008800:Mexico; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010820:Physicians; D000072140:Rheumatologists
keywords: Mexico; doctor–patient relationship; fibromyalgia; health care system; hospital ethnography; research, qualitative