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Doctor Attributes That Patients Desire during Consultation: The Perspectives of Doctors and Patients in Primary Health Care in Botswana

Doctor attributes contribute significantly to the quality of the doctor–patient relationship, consultation, patient satisfaction, and treatment outcomes. However, there is a paucity of research on this topic in many settings in developing countries, including Botswana, where accessibility and availa...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Setlhare, Vincent, Madiba, Sphiwe
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10047964/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36981497
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11060840
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author Setlhare, Vincent
Madiba, Sphiwe
author_facet Setlhare, Vincent
Madiba, Sphiwe
author_sort Setlhare, Vincent
collection PubMed
description Doctor attributes contribute significantly to the quality of the doctor–patient relationship, consultation, patient satisfaction, and treatment outcomes. However, there is a paucity of research on this topic in many settings in developing countries, including Botswana, where accessibility and availability of care itself are a challenge. The study examined doctor attributes that patients in Botswana desire from the perspectives of doctors and patients in selected public clinics located in four health districts of Botswana. We used a qualitative design and conducted face-to-face interviews with 32 adult patients and 17 doctors selected through the purposive sampling technique. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Data analysis followed the six steps of qualitative thematic data analysis. We found both discordance and congruence between the doctors and patients on key attributes that patients desire in a doctor during consultation. Both agreed that effective communication and listening skills were key desirable doctor attributes that improve the doctor–patient relationship. Conducting the consultation in the language of the patients enhances effective communication. Doctors cited clinical expertise and competence as key desirable doctor attributes, whereas patients cited interpersonal and social attributes including kindness, empathy, and respect as key doctor attributes that increase trust in the doctor. However, patients expected the doctor to have clinical knowledge, which they perceived as essential to improve doctor–patient interaction and health outcomes. The findings highlight a need to enhance the interpersonal and communication skills of doctors to improve the quality of doctor–patient interactions. To optimise and enhance the consultation, continuing professional development should be adopted as a strategy to improve the communication and interpersonal skills of doctors.
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spelling pubmed-100479642023-03-29 Doctor Attributes That Patients Desire during Consultation: The Perspectives of Doctors and Patients in Primary Health Care in Botswana Setlhare, Vincent Madiba, Sphiwe Healthcare (Basel) Article Doctor attributes contribute significantly to the quality of the doctor–patient relationship, consultation, patient satisfaction, and treatment outcomes. However, there is a paucity of research on this topic in many settings in developing countries, including Botswana, where accessibility and availability of care itself are a challenge. The study examined doctor attributes that patients in Botswana desire from the perspectives of doctors and patients in selected public clinics located in four health districts of Botswana. We used a qualitative design and conducted face-to-face interviews with 32 adult patients and 17 doctors selected through the purposive sampling technique. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Data analysis followed the six steps of qualitative thematic data analysis. We found both discordance and congruence between the doctors and patients on key attributes that patients desire in a doctor during consultation. Both agreed that effective communication and listening skills were key desirable doctor attributes that improve the doctor–patient relationship. Conducting the consultation in the language of the patients enhances effective communication. Doctors cited clinical expertise and competence as key desirable doctor attributes, whereas patients cited interpersonal and social attributes including kindness, empathy, and respect as key doctor attributes that increase trust in the doctor. However, patients expected the doctor to have clinical knowledge, which they perceived as essential to improve doctor–patient interaction and health outcomes. The findings highlight a need to enhance the interpersonal and communication skills of doctors to improve the quality of doctor–patient interactions. To optimise and enhance the consultation, continuing professional development should be adopted as a strategy to improve the communication and interpersonal skills of doctors. MDPI 2023-03-13 /pmc/articles/PMC10047964/ /pubmed/36981497 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11060840 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Setlhare, Vincent
Madiba, Sphiwe
Doctor Attributes That Patients Desire during Consultation: The Perspectives of Doctors and Patients in Primary Health Care in Botswana
title Doctor Attributes That Patients Desire during Consultation: The Perspectives of Doctors and Patients in Primary Health Care in Botswana
title_full Doctor Attributes That Patients Desire during Consultation: The Perspectives of Doctors and Patients in Primary Health Care in Botswana
title_fullStr Doctor Attributes That Patients Desire during Consultation: The Perspectives of Doctors and Patients in Primary Health Care in Botswana
title_full_unstemmed Doctor Attributes That Patients Desire during Consultation: The Perspectives of Doctors and Patients in Primary Health Care in Botswana
title_short Doctor Attributes That Patients Desire during Consultation: The Perspectives of Doctors and Patients in Primary Health Care in Botswana
title_sort doctor attributes that patients desire during consultation: the perspectives of doctors and patients in primary health care in botswana
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10047964/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36981497
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11060840
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