Role dimensions of patient and physician in medical interviews: relationship to patients' satisfaction.

We applied the Verbal Response Mode coding system to 80 medical interviews to characterize role dimensions of patient and physician and to assess the relation between physicians' role dimensions and patients' satisfaction. Role dimensions conformed closely to prior work. Physicians' acquiescence was positively correlated with satisfaction. This study suggests that the role dimensions generated by the Verbal Response Mode taxonomy are a useful measure of patients' and physicians' relationships.