Doctor–patient communication at an urban health and training center in Goa: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Effective doctor–patient communication is a central clinical function in building a therapeutic doctor–patient relationship, which is the heart and art of medicine. The increasing population and the lack of available services at these health centers can result in annoyed and agitated patients, resulting in violence toward doctors and other health-care staff. AIM AND OBJECTIVE: To assess doctor–patient communication at an urban health and training center in Goa. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of 3 months on 200 participants. The self-administered questionnaire contained two components: (1) sociodemographic information of the participants and (2) 8 close-ended questions which focus on the communication behavior of the doctors. RESULTS: 87.5% of the patients perceived a good communication behavior from the doctors. CONCLUSION: Our study concluded that the doctor–patient communication behavior at the urban health center was good, which conveys a good impression of the doctors and the center. The greeting the patients received at the beginning of the consultation, the listening ear, their ability to explain in the local language, to repeat if the patient had not understood, the attitude with which they spoke, the tone of their voice, and most importantly the involvement of the patient in the disease and treatment process left an impression on the participants.

Keywords

• communication behavior
• doctor–patient communication
• goa