Biomedical subjects

M R DiMatteo

Publications and source records attributed to M R DiMatteo.

40 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

PubMed1980

The significance of patients' perceptions of physician conduct: a study of patient satisfaction in a family practice center.

The provision of high quality medical care and the insurance of patient satisfaction depend in part upon the ability and willingness of physicians to establish rapport with their patients and to develop effective physician-patient communication. In this study, patients' overall satisfaction with their physicians' care was assessed in relation to their perceptions of their physicians' (1) proficiency at communicating and listening to details of the illness and medical treatment, (2) capability of providing affective care, and (3) technical competence. Perceptions of physician behaviors were measured by a questionnaire administered to 329 patients of 54 residents in a family practice center. The relationship between the perceptions of patients and their satisfaction with medical care was examined both for the entire sample and among groups of patients with differing demographic characteristics. Results indicate an important link between patients' perceptions of socioemotional aspects of the physician-patient relationship and their reported satisfaction with medical care. Noticeable differences were found to exist in the importance that patients with different demographic characteristics placed on various aspects of their physicians' conduct.

Adult↗

PubMed1980

Predicting patient satisfaction from physicians' nonverbal communication skills.

The relationship between physicians' nonverbal communication skills (their ability to communicate and to understand facial expression, body movement and voice tone cues to emotion) and their patients' satisfaction with medical care was examined in 2 studies. The research involved 71 residents in internal medicine and 462 of their ambulatory and hospitalized patients. Standardized, reliable and valid measures of nonverbal communication skills were administered to the physicians. Their scores on these tests were correlated with ratings they received from a sample of their patients on measures of satisfaction with the technical aspects and the socioemotional aspects (or art) of the medical care they received. While the nonverbal communication skills of the physicians bore little relationship to patients' ratings of the technical quality of care, measures of these skills did predict patient satisfaction with the art of medical care received. Across both samples, physicians who were more sensitive to body movement and posture cues to emotion (the channel suggested by nonverbal researchers as the one in which true affect can be perceived) received higher ratings from their patients on the art of care than did less sensitive physicians. In addition, physicians who were successful at expressing emotion through their nonverbal communications tended to receive higher ratings from patients on the art of care than did physicians who were less effective communicators. The implications of successfully identifying characteristics of physicians with whom patients are satisfied are discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed1979

Patients' percentions of physicians' behavior: determinants of patient commitment to the therapeutic relationship.

This study examines the hypothesis that patients decide to remain committed to their primary care physicians (or to leave them and "doctor shop") primarily on the basis of the "socioemotional" aspects of the physicians' behavior. It was hypothesized that physicians' demonstrations of caring for patients as people and their openness of communication would be predictive of patient commitment to the therapeutic relationship, and that the physicians' competence and role performance (including thoroughness of information gathering) as perceived by patients would be less important. Interviews were conducted with 342 inpatients and ambulatory patients in a large urban community teaching hospital after a visit with one of 38 house officers in internal medicine. Each patient was asked to (a) rate his or her physician on nine performance variables, (b) indicate his or her intention to return to that physician in the future or seek a different one, and (c) state his or her education, occupation, age, and present illness condition. The physicians' socioemotional behavior (caring and openness to communication), as well as their accessibility, tended to weight heavily in patients' decisions to continue the physician-patient relationship. In addition, the importance of some specific physician behaviors (for example, the physician's willingness to explain the medical condition) varied among subpopulations of patients.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A diabetes-specific measure of patient desire to participate in medical decision making.

PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to develop a diabetes-specific scale of patient desire to participate in medical decision making (DPMD) and examine its internal consistency reliability, stability, and validity (content, discriminant, convergent, and construct). METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, 65 patients with type 2 diabetes from a teaching hospital's general medical clinic were interviewed at baseline and 2 weeks later to measure their DPMD scores. Data were collected on demographic/clinical features, health value, social support, desire to make a final decision, and value of patient autonomy. RESULTS: Of the 11 DPMD items, 2 distinct factors emerged representing desire for discussion and desire for information. The DPMD scale had high internal consistency reliability, was stable over 2 weeks and demonstrated good content validity. DPMD scale items were more correlated with each other than with health value or social support. Overall, patients who obtained diabetes education reported greater desire to participate in decisions. Younger patients had a greater overall desire for discussion. The DPMD desire for discussion subscale correlated with patients' desire to make the final treatment decision but not with patients' value of autonomy. CONCLUSIONS: The DPMD is a brief, reliable, valid measure for assessing patient desire to participate in diabetes medical decision making.

Attitude to Health↗