Medical information is not enough for patient’s participation in clinical decisions

Abstract

This research was designed to analyze whether patients rate positively doctors’ attitudes and information provided favours the patient’s participation and involvement in clinical decisions. For this, we carry out a cross-sectional analysis of data on 1070 patients discharged from 7 hospitals in Spain. A total of 82% referred to be satisfied with the information, of which 3% did not have the feeling that their hospital doctor had listened carefully, 27% did not have their doubts clarified, and 76% were not informed of therapeutic alternatives. When the doctor showed a receptive attitude there was actually an increase in the number of patients that still had doubts about their diagnosis and treatment (OR= 1.9, p= 0.04). Older patients were less frequently involved in clinical decisions (2= 8.05, p=0.04) and often remained with doubts (2=9.05, p=0.03). The conclusion is that a substantial proportion of patients seem to assume a passive role in the interaction with the doctor. There are conditions that may restrict the patient’s autonomy which do not ever affect the patient’s rating of the information provided by the doctor.