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Parent Perception of Psychosocial Disclosures and Satisfaction with Physician Communication

Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: Research has identified quality physician-patient communication as essential to patient satisfaction, and has linked it to several important health outcomes, such as improved adherence and physical/mental health outcomes.However, although there has been a clear link found between satisfaction and communication in adults, this research is less frequently studied in pediatric populations.Though limited, affective components of doctor-parent communication have received the most support in the literature in connection to satisfaction.In order to better understand this link, specific communication behaviors that parents perceive as important need to be identified and examined.The present study aimed to assess parent perception of physician communication, how this relates to parents' overall and communication-specific satisfaction, and potential factors that may impact this relationship, such as socioeconomic status (SES) and race/ethnicity.Using transcripts of a simulated well-child exam, the findings from this study underscored the importance of physicians asking for information from parents and utilizing affective aspects of communication (e.g., reassurance or encouragement and showing concern).Results supported that when parents perceive these behaviors as happening, they report higher levels of satisfaction with the pediatrician in the transcript.The parents in this sample who reported having concerns about their child's emotional or behavioral health showed higher levels of satisfaction when physicians responded most thoroughly to disclosed concerns by the mother in the transcript.This was true when both internalizing and externalizing concerns were reported by parents; however, likely due to the impact of disruptive or hyperactive behaviors on family's lives, parents reported higher levels of satisfaction when externalizing concerns were discussed more thoroughly.Our results suggest that there may also be differences in parent perception of physician communication based on parent race/ethnicity; yet, due to the small sample size of ethnic minorities within our sample, these results can only be considered exploratory and necessitate future examination.Historically, pediatric research has often been limited by not separating out child contribution within communication interactions, and few studies have examined the tie between communication and parent satisfaction.Through the utilization of an analogue physician-parent interaction, the present study expanded this research area by focusing on parent perception of communication, specifically for parents of children ages 3-10, and limited overall child contribution within the transcripts used.Despite limitations within the present study, the findings suggest clinical implications and future directions for research.Clinical implications include support for continued focus on important communication behaviors within physician training.Future research should further refine this methodology and examine parent perception of communication and satisfaction within the larger healthcare context, including examination of important outcomes such as adherence, and physical and/or emotional outcomes for patients.
Language: English
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7051486376
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