Kılınçarslan Mehmet Göktuğ, Dönmez Büşra, Kaya Beştepe Yasemin, Kırıkcıoğlu Büşra Nur, Akbaşoğlu Merve, Karakaya Bezar, Şahin Erkan Melih
Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Çanakkale, Turkey.
Health Expect. 2025 Feb;28(1):e70102. doi: 10.1111/hex.70102.
Medical education typically focuses on the dyadic interaction between patient and physician. However, there is another significant presence in the room that can also impact the patient's health outcomes: caregivers. This topic has been relatively underexplored until now, and there is insufficient information available regarding situations in different cultures. In this study, we aimed to separately examine the characteristics of patients that influence the frequency of being accompanied and those that affect patients' preferences regarding the presence of a companion.
This cross-sectional study was conducted in family medicine clinic of a tertiary hospital. During a period of 15 days, a total of 285 patients who visited the clinic were administered the questionnaire face-to-face. Two logistic regression models were used for dependent variables of "actual" and "desired" situations of admitting to healthcare service with companion.
Of the participants, 167 (58.6%) were female, and the mean age was 36.8 ± 16.2 The sole significant factor, influencing actual visits to be occurred with a companion, was the solution for transportation issues (odds ratio [OR]: 26.25). It was found that unmarried individuals (single/divorced/widowed) (OR: 5.47), those with higher income (OR: 1.84), and older individuals (OR: 1.04) had a higher tendency to prefer visiting the clinic with companion while female are as opposite (OR: 0.50). Anxiety, perceived social support, and health literacy weren't associated with actual situation or desire to have companion.
Patients have companions to address tangible issues. However, different factors may influence the desire to have a companion. There is a large group of individuals who, are accompanied at clinic visits against their wishes, indicating a conflict between being accompanied and the desire for one.
Our study was inspired by the unsolicited comments of patients made about their companions during clinical visits. Additionally, community provided valuable feedback during the pilot application phase, particularly in the development of the data form.
医学教育通常侧重于患者与医生之间的二元互动。然而，诊室中还有另一个重要因素也会影响患者的健康结果：护理人员。到目前为止，这个话题相对未得到充分探索，关于不同文化背景下的情况，现有信息不足。在本研究中，我们旨在分别考察影响陪伴频率的患者特征以及影响患者对陪伴者在场偏好的特征。
本横断面研究在一家三级医院的家庭医学诊所进行。在15天的时间里，共对285名到该诊所就诊的患者进行了面对面问卷调查。使用两个逻辑回归模型，分别以有陪伴者接受医疗服务的“实际”和“期望”情况作为因变量。
参与者中，167名（58.6%）为女性，平均年龄为36.8±16.2岁。影响实际有陪伴者就诊的唯一显著因素是交通问题的解决（比值比[OR]：26.25）。研究发现，未婚者（单身/离异/丧偶）（OR：5.47）、高收入者（OR：1.84）和年长者（OR：1.04）更倾向于有陪伴者就诊，而女性则相反（OR：0.50）。焦虑、感知到的社会支持和健康素养与实际情况或有陪伴者的意愿无关。
患者有陪伴者是为了解决实际问题。然而，不同因素可能会影响有陪伴者的意愿。有一大群人在诊所就诊时违背自己的意愿有人陪伴，这表明陪伴与意愿之间存在冲突。
我们的研究受到患者在临床就诊期间对其陪伴者的自发评论的启发。此外，社区在试点应用阶段提供了宝贵的反馈，特别是在数据表格的制定方面。
