Patients with schizophrenia assessing psychiatrists’ communication skills

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s827-s828
Author(s):  
A. Pestana Santos ◽  
V. Santos ◽  
I. Carvalho

The doctor-patient relationship constitutes the matrix of the entire medical practice. One way in which doctors develop a positive rapport with their patients is through appropriate communication. Evidence suggests that doctors do not communicate with their patients as they should. Important gaps are observed in doctors’ communication with patients with schizophrenia.AimExamine psychiatrists’ communication skills as assessed by their patients with schizophrenia and through external observation, considering patients’ socio-demographic and clinical variables and analyse the importance that aspects of communication have for patients.MethodologyThis cross-sectional study involved a sample of 30 patients and 11 doctors. An adapted and culturally validated version of the Communication Assessment Tool was used for data collection. Data were analysed in IBM SPSS Statistics®, version 24.ResultsMale patients constituted 86.7% of the sample and mean age was 46.7 ± 13.3. The overall mean percentage of items rated as excellent by patients was 57.4%. On the other hand, external observer percentage of excellent scores was much lower when compared with patients’ scores. Single, divorced or widower/widow patients, patients with higher educational level and patients with shorter number of years in medical treatment gave significantly higher scores to psychiatrists’ communication. Patients’ sex, age, occupation residence and family type did not yield statistically significant effects on patients’ ratings.ConclusionsCommunication is at the heart of psychiatrists’ daily practice. Many communication styles might be needed, depending on the nature of clinical encounters and patient expectations. Specific training is required to optimise psychiatrists’ communication skills on everyday practice.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Objective: Primary care physicians are the first means of access to further healthcare services and act as a doorkeeper for different specialties at the secondary and tertiary levels; thus, communication skills are one of the most vital skills to be taught to residents in the family medicine specialty. This study aimed to evaluate the communication skills of family medicine residents in Oman from the perspective of their patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed at the Family and Community Medicine Clinic of Sultan Qaboos University Hospital as well as various Ministry of Health training health centers in Muscat, Oman. An Arabic version of the validated 14-item Communication Assessment Tool (CAT) was used to evaluate patients’ perceptions regarding the communication skills of family medicine residents at the end of their consultation. Data were collected between September 2020 and May 2021 from 602 patients who received care or interacted with 60 residents from the Oman Medical Specialty Board (OMSB) Family Medicine Residency Program at different residency levels. Results: The mean percentage of CAT items rated as excellent was 73.8%. The item “Treated me with respect” was most commonly rated as excellent (84.2%), whilst the item "Involved me in decisions as much as I wanted" was least frequently rated as excellent (62.0%). Various factors were found to significantly affect CAT rating, including residency level, type of clinic, number of times seeing the same resident, and the patient's education level. In contrast, other factors such as time of consultation, the gender of either the resident or the patient, and the nationality of the patient did not affect CAT rating. Conclusion: Some areas of weakness especially with the item "encouraged me to ask questions" and involved me in decisions as much as I wanted" identified in the communication skills of OMSB family medicine residents. These findings are comparable with those reported by similar studies worldwide.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S100-S101 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Daniel ◽  
A. Antunes ◽  
S. Guadalupe ◽  
I. Massano-Cardoso ◽  
H. Vicente

IntroductionBoth resilient coping strategies and the structural/functional characteristics of personal social networks are considered important factors when facing adversity and the challenges inherent to the aging process.ObjectivesTo analyze the association between the configurations of ego-centred networks and different levels of resilient coping in a sample of elderly people.MethodsQuantitative, cross-sectional study comparing groups, with 512 participants, mostly women (n = 325; 63.5%), married (n = 264; 51.5%), with 76 years old in average (SD ± 7.6), and with basic education (n = 261; 51%). We used a socio-demographic questionnaire, the IARSP-Elderly (personal social network assessment tool) and the Brief Resilient Coping Scale for data collection.ResultsWe found different levels of resilient coping in our sample: low (50.4%); medium (38,7%); strong (10.9%). These three levels of coping were associated with the composition of ego-centred networks, namely the proportion of friends and colleagues (P < 0.05), different perceived emotional support, reciprocity and satisfaction with the network (P < 0.05), frequency of contacts and relationships’ durability (P < 0.05).ConclusionsHigher levels of coping are associated with a larger proportion of friends in the network, whereas the familistic networks are associated with low coping. Although participants in our study revealed mainly kin comprised networks, these results reflect the relevance of resilient coping in the activation of non-kin relationships in old age.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


Author(s):  
Nicholas Tripodi ◽  
Sarah Cossar ◽  
Jessica Davidson ◽  
Ryan Farmer ◽  
Jessica Gorbonos ◽  
...  

Introduction: Effective patient–practitioner communication contributes to patient health outcomes by strengthening therapeutic relationships and, in the process, contributing to overall quality of patient care. Despite the growth of student-led university teaching clinics, little research has investigated communication skills within this context. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the patient-perceived levels of communication and interpersonal skills within a student-led allied health clinic.Methods: The Communication Assessment Tool (CAT) was used to collect cross-sectional data on patients’ perceptions of student communication and interpersonal skills within an osteopathy teaching clinic. Data were analysed via descriptive and inferential statistics.Results: According to the CAT, patients perceived the students’ communication and interpersonal skills to be “excellent” overall (97.2%). No significant differences were found between percentage of “excellent” responses and gender (p = .600), number of consultations (p = .374) or pain duration (p = .741).Conclusions: Patients in this setting perceive student communication and interpersonal skills to be of a high standard. This can contribute positively to the patient–practitioner therapeutic alliance and may improve overall health outcomes. These findings have implications for communication training within student-led health professions clinics and tertiary curricula more broadly.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning An ◽  
Ji Sheng Lin ◽  
Qi Fei

Abstract Background To compare the validation of four tools for identifying painful new osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (PNOVCFs) in older Chinese men: bone mineral density (BMD), Asian osteoporosis self-assessment tool (OSTA), World Health Organization fracture risk assessment tool (FRAX) (without BMD) and Beijing Friendship Hospital Osteoporosis Self-Assessment Tool (BFH-OSTM). Methods A cross sectional study was conducted from 2013 to 2019. A total of 846 men aged ≥50 were included and were divided into two groups: Fracture Group (patients with PNOVCFs underwent percutaneous vertebroplasty surgery) and Non-Fracture Group (community dwelled subjects for healthy examination). All subjects accepted a dual-energy X-ray BMD test and a structured questionnaire. The results of BMD, OSTA, FRAX and BFH-OSTM scores were assessed and receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to compare the validity of four tools for identifying PNOVCFs. Optimal cutoff points, sensitivity, specificity, and areas under the ROC curves (AUCs) were determined. Results There were significant differences including BMD T score (femoral neck, total hip and L1-L4), OSTA, FRAX and BFH-OSTM scores between Fracture group and Non-fracture group. Compared to BMD and OSTA, BFH-OSTM and FRAX had better predictive value, the sensitivity, specificity and AUC value are 0.841, 81.29%, 70.67% and 0.796, 74.85%, 78.52%, respectively. Compared with FRAX, the BFH-OSTM has a better AUC value. Conclusions Both BFH-OSTM and FRAX can be used to identify POVCFs, However, BFH-OSTM model may be a more simple and effective tool to identify the risk of POVCFs in Chinese elderly men.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrícia Amaro Andrade ◽  
Carolina Araújo dos Santos ◽  
Heloísa Helena Firmino ◽  
Carla de Oliveira Barbosa Rosa

ABSTRACT Objective: To determine frequency of dysphagia risk and associated factors in hospitalized patients as well as to evaluate nutritional status by using different methods and correlate the status with scores of the Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10). Methods: This was a cross-sectional study including 909 inpatients of a philanthropic hospital. For the diagnosis of dysphagia we used an adapted and validated Brazilian version of the Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10). The nutritional status was evaluated through the subjective global assessment, and anthropometric measurements included weight, calf and arm circumference, and knee height. The Mann-Whitney test, associations using the Pearson’s χ2 and Spearman’s correlation were used to verify differences between the groups. Results: The prevalence of dysphagia risk was 10.5%, and aging was the associated factor with this condition. Patients at risk presented lower values of arm and calf circumference, variables that correlated inversely with the Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10) score. Malnutrition was observed in 13.2% of patients based on the subjective global assessment and in 15.2% based on the Body Mass Index. Conclusion: Screening for dysphagia and malnutrition should be introduced in hospitals routine to avoid or minimize damages caused by dysphagia or malnutrition, especially among older people.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S577-S577 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. Ouali ◽  
R. Jomli ◽  
R. Nefzi ◽  
H. Ouertani ◽  
F. Nacef

IntroductionMental patients generally internalize some of the negative conceptions about how most people view them: they might be considered incompetent or untrustworthy or believe that people would not want to hire, or marry someone with mental illness. A lot of research on stigma has been conducted in western countries; however, little is still known on the situation in Arab-Muslim societies.ObjectivesTo evaluate social stigma as viewed by patients suffering from severe mental illness (SMI)MethodsThis is a cross-sectional study on clinically stabilized patients with schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder (BD) according to DSM IV, who were interviewed in our out-patients clinic with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire, containing 8 opinions on the social inclusion and stigmatization of psychiatric patients, with special reference to the local cultural context (e.g.: “It is better to hide mental illness in order to preserve the reputation of my family”)ResultsWe included 104 patients, 51% with schizophrenia and 49% with BD. Mean age was 38.4 years (18–74 years); 59.6% were males. Overall social stigma scores were high. Social stigma in patients was correlated with gender, age, place of residence and diagnosis. Patients with BD showed significantly less social stigma than patients with schizophrenia.ConclusionOur results show the need for a better understanding of this phenomenon in patients with SMI, but also within Tunisian society, in order to elaborate anti stigma strategies adapted to the local context.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (8) ◽  
pp. 2235-2239
Author(s):  
Farrukh Sarfraz ◽  
Fahad Sarfraz ◽  
Imran Jawad ◽  
Mohammad Zia-Ul-Miraj ◽  
Rizwan Zafar Ahmad ◽  
...  

Background: To assess the competency of a student different tools are used. Since its introduction in 1975 by Dr. Harden and his team, OSCE has gained tremendous strides to assess the clinical competencies. Since 1975 onward OSCE has been very successfully used to assess the clinical competencies of medical student globally. OSCE is an assessment tool in which student is observed for performance of different tasks at specified stations. In the current study perception of medical students about OSCE examination was done which shall give room for positive criticism and further improvement of the system where ever required. Objective: To expedite view of final year MBBS students of Azra Naheed College about OSCE Material and Method Study design: Quantitative, cross sectional study. Settings: Azra Naheed College, Lahore. Duration: Six months i.e. 1st July2020 to 31st December 2020 Data Collection procedure: After an informed consent and appropriate briefing, the questionnaire was distributed among the final year medical students of Azra Naheed Medical College. Questionnaire developed by Russell et al was used. Results: Out of 148 students who participated in the study, 66(45%) students were females and 82(55%) were male. Majority of the students were satisfied with the quality of the exam. Consensus about the quality of exam was that, 29.7% were aware about the nature of the exam, 52.7% were satisfied that the syllabus taught was asked in the exam, 58.1% were satisfied about the time allocation for each station. Majority i.e. 60% considered OSCE an exam of practical nature which is not biased by gender or ethnicity. More than 50% of the students were satisfied with the standard of the exam. At the same time more than 50% students considered essay exam the easiest format of assessment. However, OSCE was considered to be fairest form of assessment 73%. 68.9% perceived that learning is enhanced by MCQs rather than other formats of assessment. Conclusion: To conclude this study, it is very much clear that the perception of students about OSCE as an assessment tool was very encouraging, as it not only provided them the opportunity to highlight their weaknesses but also helped them to perform well in the exam, manage time during exam and to overcome them stress which influenced their results. Key words: OSCE, Objective, Examinations, Clinical skills, qualitative analysis


BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. e021317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina Li ◽  
Chenwen Zhong ◽  
Jie Mei ◽  
Yuan Liang ◽  
Li Li ◽  
...  

ObjectiveCurrent healthcare reform in China has an overall goal of strengthening primary care and establishing a family practice system based on contract services. The objective of this study was to determine whether contracting a general practitioner (GP) could improve quality of primary care.DesignA cross-sectional study using two-stage sampling conducted from June to September 2014. Propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to control for confounding between patients with and without contracted GP.SettingThree community health centres in Guangzhou, China.Participants698 patients aged 18–89 years.Main outcome measuresThe quality of primary care was measured using a validated Chinese version of primary care assessment tool (PCAT). Eight domains are included (first contact utilisation, accessibility, continuity, comprehensiveness, coordination, family-centredness, community orientation and cultural competence from patient’s perceptions).ResultsA total of 692 effective samples were included for data analysis. After PSM, 94 pairs of patients were matched between the patients with and without contracted GPs. The total PCAT score, continuity (3.12 vs 2.68, p<0.01), comprehensiveness (2.31 vs 2.04, p<0.01) and family-centredness (2.11 vs 1.79, p<0.01) were higher in patients who contracted GPs than those did not. However, the domains of first contact utilisation (2.74 vs 2.87, p=0.14) and coordination (1.76 vs 1.93, p<0.05) were lower among patients contracted with GPs than in those who did not.ConclusionOur findings demonstrated that patients who had a contracted GP tend to experience higher quality of primary care. Our study provided evidence for health policies aiming to promote the implementation of family practice contract services. Our results also highlight further emphases on the features of primary care, first contact services and coordination services in particular.


Medicina ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 100
Author(s):  
Pietro Ferrara ◽  
Lucia Stromillo ◽  
Luciana Albano

Background and objectives: Vaccination against bacterial pathogens is decisive for preventing invasive meningococcal disease and pediatricians play a pivotal role in vaccination compliance and coverage. The aim of this study was to investigate awareness, attitude, and practices toward the vaccine against Meningococcal B serogroup (4CMenB) among a sample of Italian pediatricians. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out using an online questionnaire from March to May 2015. Three multivariate logistic regression models were built to identify factors associated with the outcomes of interest. Results: The data showed that 95.5% of the interviewees correctly responded about the availability of 4CMenB vaccine in Italy, while only 28.0% knew the vaccination schedule for children aged two years or under. This knowledge was significantly higher in younger pediatricians and in those who worked a higher number of hours per week. Pediatricians self-reported a positive attitude toward the utility and safety of 4CMenB vaccine. Those pediatricians with a strong positive attitude toward the utility of the vaccine, who knew the vaccination schedules for children of two years or under, and who declared a satisfactory or good knowledge about the vaccine were more likely to inform parents about its availability in Italy, recommend the vaccination, and verify patients’ vaccination status, in their daily practice. Conclusions: The study highlights factors that currently influence pediatricians’ practices regarding the 4CMenB vaccine. The results showed the possible actions recommended to improve physicians’ awareness and behaviors in order to improve the vaccination compliance and invasive meningococcal diseases prevention.


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