Abstract
BackgroundCommunication skills are fundamental to successful medical practice and can greatly impact patient satisfaction, compliance and outcomes. This study evaluated knowledge and practice of doctor- patient communication among the urban family physicians based on main items of Calgary Cambridge Observation Guides.MethodThis cross-sectional study was conducted from July to September, 2019, in a 400 randomly selected sample of family physicians of Shiraz, Fars province. The data collection tool was a self-administered, second-part questionnaire developed by the researchers. Participants were asked about their age, gender, practice setting, and years of work experience and if they received any formal training in doctor- patient communication. Data were analyzed using SPSS (Version 16, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsThe study participants included 204 male and 196 female family physicians with a mean age of 46.7 ± 7.7 years. The mean communication skills knowledge score was 41.5 (SD: ± 2.8) indicating a high level of knowledge. The mean score for practices was 38.7 (SD: ± 3.4), implying a moderate level of practice. Based on Bloom’s scale, nearly 80% of family physicians had good knowledge about doctor-patient communication skills, however, 55% of participants reported moderate to poor level of practice in this regard. Results of multivariate regression analysis suggest that higher levels of related knowledge, having higher age or longer work experience, and working in the public sector can predict better practice scores (P < 0.005).ConclusionThere is a potential gap between knowledge and self-reported practices toward communication skills among a sample of Iranian family physicians. They have fundamental weakness in the most important evidence-based items of doctor- patient communication. Considering significant role of family physicians in prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as an emerging challenge of our country, the topic of communication skills should be inserted as a top educational priority of family physicians.
Highlights
Communication skills are fundamental to successful medical practice and can greatly impact patient satisfaction, compliance and outcomes
Based on Bloom’s scale, nearly 80% of family physicians had good knowledge about doctor-patient communication skills, 55% of participants reported moderate to poor level of practice in this regard
There is a potential gap between knowledge and self-reported practices toward communication skills among a sample of Iranian family physicians
Summary
Communication skills are fundamental to successful medical practice and can greatly impact patient satisfaction, compliance and outcomes. Like many other countries around the world, Iran is facing an increasing burden of NCDs. Family doctors as primary care physicians are the front line of contact for different population groups including patients with common chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension and can play an essential role in prevention and control of NCDs through patient education and behavioral change strategies [12, 13]. Doctors as primary care physicians are the front line of contact for different population groups including patients with common chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension and can play an essential role in prevention and control of NCDs through patient education and behavioral change strategies [12, 13] These aims could be achieved by creating good doctor-patient relationships. Poor quality doctor- patient communication has been found to be associated with patient dissatisfaction, reduced treatment adherence and poor health outcomes [14,15,16,17,18,19]
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