Department of Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Department of Psychological Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA.
J Commun Healthc. 2023 Oct;16(3):239-244. doi: 10.1080/17538068.2022.2152228. Epub 2022 Dec 5.
: Following implementation of routine screening for depression in primary care, screening for other behavioral health issues is expanding. However, prior to implementing additional screening it is important to consider patient comfort answering sensitive questions related to behavioral health topics to determine screening acceptability and effectiveness.
: A self-report survey was completed by U.S. adults over the age of 18 ( = 378) using Amazon Mechanical Turk. The survey assessed comfort discussing demographics, physical health, behavioral health, oral health, and living conditions with medical providers. Comfort levels of behavioral health topics were compared to comfort discussing depression symptoms and reasons for discomfort discussing topics were also surveyed.
: There were significant differences in comfort level discussing various behavioral health issues ((8) = 51.70, P < .001). Participants reported being more comfortable discussing cigarette smoking and less comfortable discussing trauma, intimate partner violence (IPV) and gun ownership compared to depression. Privacy and perceived irrelevance were the most common reasons for discomfort.
: Accurate indices of patient behavioral health are essential for patient care. However, patients may be uncomfortable discussing some topics such as trauma, IPV, and gun ownership that patients view as private and/or unrelated to their treatment. Patient comfort may increase through provider trainings that focus on communication skills training, clear administrative procedures that allow for privacy and adequate time for discussions, and community education that underscores how these issues impact physical health.
在初级保健中实施常规抑郁症筛查后，针对其他行为健康问题的筛查范围正在扩大。然而，在实施额外的筛查之前，重要的是要考虑患者在回答与行为健康主题相关的敏感问题时的舒适度，以确定筛查的可接受性和有效性。
使用亚马逊 Mechanical Turk，美国年龄在 18 岁以上的成年人（ = 378）完成了一份自我报告调查。该调查评估了与医疗服务提供者讨论人口统计学、身体健康、行为健康、口腔健康和生活条件的舒适度。将行为健康主题的舒适度水平与讨论抑郁症状的舒适度水平进行了比较，并调查了讨论主题时感到不适的原因。
在讨论各种行为健康问题时，舒适度水平存在显著差异（(8) = 51.70，P < .001）。与抑郁相比，参与者表示更愿意讨论吸烟问题，而不太愿意讨论创伤、亲密伴侣暴力（IPV）和枪支拥有问题。隐私和感知到的不相关是感到不适的最常见原因。
准确评估患者的行为健康状况对于患者护理至关重要。然而，患者可能对一些话题感到不舒服，例如创伤、IPV 和枪支拥有问题，因为患者认为这些话题是隐私的，或者与他们的治疗无关。通过专注于沟通技巧培训、允许隐私和充分讨论时间的明确行政程序以及强调这些问题如何影响身体健康的社区教育，患者的舒适度可能会增加。
