Audiologists’ preferences for patient-centredness: a cross-sectional questionnaire study of cross-cultural differences and similarities among professionals in Portugal, India and Iran

OBJECTIVE: Patient-centredness has become an important aspect of health service delivery; however, there are a limited number of studies that focus on this concept in the domain of hearing healthcare. The objective of this study was to examine and compare audiologists’ preferences for patient-centredness in Portugal, India and Iran. DESIGN: The study used a cross-sectional survey design with audiologists recruited from three different countries. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 191 fully-completed responses were included in the analysis (55 from Portugal, 78 from India and 58 from Iran). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The Patient–Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS). RESULTS: PPOS mean scores suggest that audiologists have a preference for patient-centredness (ie, mean of 3.6 in a 5-point scale). However, marked differences were observed between specific PPOS items suggesting these preferences vary across clinical situations. A significant level of difference (p<0.001) was found between audiologists’ preferences for patient-centredness in three countries. Audiologists in Portugal had a greater preference for patient-centredness when compared to audiologists in India and Iran, although no significant differences were found in terms of age and duration of experience among these sample populations. CONCLUSIONS: There are differences and similarities in audiologists’ preferences for patient-centredness among countries. These findings may have implications for the training of professionals and also for clinical practice in terms of optimising hearing healthcare across countries.