Zagami Debbie, Hockenhull Jessica, Bodger Alanna, Sriram Krishna Bajee
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Gold Coast University Hospital, 1 Hospital Boulevard, Southport, Queensland, Australia.
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Gold Coast University Hospital, 1 Hospital Boulevard, Southport, Queensland, Australia; School of Medicine, Parklands Drive, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland Australia.
PLoS One. 2015 May 7;10(5):e0126617. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0126617. eCollection 2015.
Physician-patient communication in patients suffering from common chronic respiratory disease should encompass discussion about pulmonary function test (PFT) results, diagnosis, disease education, smoking cessation and optimising inhaler technique. Previous studies have identified that patients with chronic respiratory disease/s often express dissatisfaction about physician communication. Currently there is a paucity of data regarding patient awareness of their PFT results (among those who have undergone PFTs previously) or patient preferences about PFT result communication.
We undertook a three-month prospective study on outpatients referred to two Pulmonary Function Laboratories. If subjects had undergone PFTs previously, the awareness of their previous test results was evaluated. All subjects were asked about their preferences for PFT result communication. Subjects were determined to have chronic respiratory disease based on their past medical history.
300 subjects (50% male) with a median age (± SD) of 65 (± 14) years participated in the study. 99% of the study participants stated that they were at least moderately interested in knowing their PFT results. 72% (217/300) of the subjects had undergone at least one PFT in the past, 48% of whom stated they had not been made aware of their results. Fewer subjects with chronic respiratory disease preferred that only a doctor discuss their PFT results with them (28% vs. 41%, p = 0.021).
Our study demonstrates that while almost all subjects want to be informed of their PFT results, this does not occur in a large number of patients. Many subjects are agreeable for their PFT results to be communicated to them by clinicians other than doctors. Further research is required to develop an efficient method of conveying PFT results that will improve patient satisfaction and health outcomes.
患有常见慢性呼吸道疾病的患者，医患沟通应包括讨论肺功能测试（PFT）结果、诊断、疾病教育、戒烟以及优化吸入器使用技术。先前的研究表明，患有慢性呼吸道疾病的患者常常对医患沟通表示不满。目前，关于患者对其PFT结果的知晓情况（在之前接受过PFT的患者中）或患者对PFT结果沟通方式的偏好的数据较少。
我们对转至两个肺功能实验室的门诊患者进行了为期三个月的前瞻性研究。如果受试者之前接受过PFT，评估他们对之前测试结果的知晓情况。询问所有受试者对PFT结果沟通方式的偏好。根据受试者的既往病史确定其患有慢性呼吸道疾病。
300名受试者（50%为男性）参与了研究，年龄中位数（±标准差）为65（±14）岁。99%的研究参与者表示，他们至少对了解自己的PFT结果有中等程度的兴趣。72%（217/300）的受试者过去至少接受过一次PFT，其中48%的人表示他们未被告知结果。患有慢性呼吸道疾病的受试者中，较少有人希望仅由医生与他们讨论PFT结果（28%对41%，p = 0.021）。
我们的研究表明，虽然几乎所有受试者都希望被告知其PFT结果，但大量患者并未得到告知。许多受试者同意由医生以外的临床医生向他们传达PFT结果。需要进一步研究以开发一种有效的传达PFT结果的方法，从而提高患者满意度和健康结局。
