Year: 2004
Type: article
Abstract: Background: Some features of patients seem to evoke negative feelings in nearly every doctor; other characteristics reduce only some physicians' wellbeing.It is generally accepted that the doctor contributes to the problem, which should correctly be named the 'difficult doctor-patient relationship' instead of the 'difficult patient'.Several studies investigated the size and the kind of this problem using surveys, but only one Israeli qualitative study goes into depth.Objectives: To explore the characteristics of patients German GPs consider as difficult and the way the GPs handle these patients.To understand what the GPs consider their own contribution.Method: We interviewed 23 GPs using both, one to one interviews (n=8) to allow sensitive topics to emerge and focus groups (n=2) to stimulate discussion and find contradictions.Two investigators developed the coding system after independent stepwise analysis of the data.Results: The focus of this presentation is on what makes the patient difficult for the doctor.Six categories have been identified, which will be explained in the presentation:-Personal characteristics of the patients -Disturbance of the workflow in the practice and of private life Conclusions: The results differ strongly from those of the Study of Steinmetz and Tabenkin, probably due to both, the way the German doctor presented the problem and the way the German researchers looked at it.Relevance to EGPRN: Cultural differences play an important role in the doctor patient relationship.Research from English speaking countries often dominates the literature in General Practice.The applicability of these results to other countries may be limited.Presentation 2 -Theme paper, An ongoing study/work in progress Cultural differences in understanding medical risk reduction.A comparison between the UK and Germany
Language: English
Subfield: General Health Professions
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4242111065