Abstract
Background: Doctor-patient relationship (DPR) is very important for patient outcomes, especially during a public health emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic. However, few studies have evaluated DPR and related sentiments from medical professionals' perspectives. Thus, the aim of the study is to provide a better understanding of DPR from medical professionals' perspectives during the COVID-19 pandemic in China.Methods: A total of 979 medical professionals, including doctors, nurses, technicians, and other workers have completed a series of questionnaires to evaluate their attitudes toward DPR, trust, violence against doctors, factors that affected and improved DPR, and the importance of these factors on DPR. Analyses of variances (ANOVA) and linear regressions were used to analyze the effects of the pandemic, demographic variables, and various elements on DPR.Results: One-way ANOVA revealed a significant effect of education on recent DPR [F(2, 976) = 6.17, p < 0.001 and trust at F(2, 976) = 9.54, p < 0.001], indicating that individuals with higher level of education (bachelor's degree, Master's degree and above) showed poorer recent DPR and lower level of trust. The level of hospital also showed a significant effect on trust [F(5, 973) = 3.79, p = 0.0021]. Cochran's Q test revealed a significant difference in factors that affected [Q(11) = 3,997.83, p < 0.001] and improved [Q(8) = 3,304.53, p < 0.001] DPR. Backward stepwise linear regressions revealed predictors for changes during [F(9, 969) = 21.17, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.16], shortly after [F(7, 971) = 54.98, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.28], and long after [F(10, 968) = 37.83, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.29] the pandemic.Conclusions: Medical professionals' perceptions of DPR is important as they provide basis for the improvement in working environment of medical professionals and hospital visiting experience of patients, as well as healthcare policy making and preparation for future public health emergencies.
Highlights
The year 2020 has experienced an international public health crisis, the pandemic of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19)
This study revealed that Chinese medical workers were optimistic about the doctorpatient relationship (DPR) during the COVID-19 outbreak
Our study identified some predictors of DPR over time from medical workers’ perspective, including patients’ understanding of medical professionals, patients’ awareness of the limitation of modern medicine, patients being supportive to medical professionals, positive media report about medical staff, medical professionals’ trust in patients, the reduction of physical and verbal violence against doctors, etc
Summary
The year 2020 has experienced an international public health crisis, the pandemic of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19). Many other fields, such as public psychological health [5] and well-being [6], as well as medical systems [7,8,9], have been affected by this crisis. During a health crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic, positive DPR is even more important as it directly influences the overall psychological and physical health of people. A recent study reported that people’s confidence in medical services and satisfaction with healthcare information provided to the public directly affected the mental and psychological health of the public during the COVID-19 pandemic [13]. Doctor-patient relationship (DPR) is very important for patient outcomes, especially during a public health emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the study is to provide a better understanding of DPR from medical professionals’ perspectives during the COVID-19 pandemic in China
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