Department of Pharmacy, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Patient Educ Couns. 2013 Nov;93(2):312-8. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2013.06.025. Epub 2013 Jul 29.
To investigate patients' preferences for patient-centered communication (PCC) in the encounter with healthcare professionals in an outpatient department in rural Sierra Leone.
A survey was conducted using an adapted version of the Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS) as a structured interview guide. The study population was drawn from the population of all adults attending for treatment or treatment for their children.
144 patients were included in the analysis. Factors, such as doctor's friendly approach, the interpersonal relationship and information-sharing were all scored high (patient-centered) on the PPOS. Factors associated with shared-decision making had a lower (doctor-centered) score. A high educational level was associated with a more patient-centered scoring, an association that was most pronounced in the female population.
The results provide an insight into the patients' preferences for PCC. Patients expressed a patient-centered attitude toward certain areas of PCC, while other areas were less expressed. More research is needed in order to fully qualify the applicability of PCC in resource-poor settings.
Stakeholders and healthcare professionals should aim to strengthen healthcare practice by focusing on PCC in the medical encounter while taking into considerations the patients' awareness and preferences for PCC.
调查塞拉利昂农村地区门诊患者对与医疗保健专业人员接触时以患者为中心的沟通（PCC）的偏好。
使用患者-医生取向量表（PPOS）的改编版本作为结构化访谈指南进行调查。研究人群来自所有成年患者及其子女的就诊人群。
共纳入 144 名患者进行分析。在 PPOS 上，医生友好的态度、人际关系和信息共享等因素评分较高（以患者为中心）。与共同决策相关的因素得分较低（以医生为中心）。较高的教育水平与更以患者为中心的评分相关，这种关联在女性中更为明显。
研究结果提供了对患者对 PCC 偏好的深入了解。患者对 PCC 的某些领域表现出以患者为中心的态度，而其他领域则表现较少。需要进一步研究，以充分确定 PCC 在资源匮乏环境中的适用性。
利益相关者和医疗保健专业人员应通过在医疗接触中以患者为中心关注 PCC，同时考虑到患者对 PCC 的意识和偏好，努力加强医疗保健实践。
