The impact of health literacy, patient-centered communication and shared decision-making on patients’ satisfaction with care received in German primary care practices

BACKGROUND: Findings on the association between health literacy skills and patient-reported outcomes such as satisfaction with health care delivery are scarce. We explored the extent to which subjective health literacy skills and the perception of the application of patient-centered communication and shared decision-making are associated with patient’s satisfaction with care received by their general practitioner (GP). METHODS: A nationwide cross sectional survey was administered in a random sample of 1125 German adults. A binary logistic regression model controlling for demographics and health status was used to examine the independent contributions of predictor variables (i.e. subjective health literacy, shared decision-making, patient-centered communication) on satisfaction with care received by the GP. RESULTS: Respondents with sufficient health literacy skills were 2.06 times as likely (95 % [CI]: 1.002–4.264) and those who were involved in shared decision-making by their GP were 4.02 times as likely (95 % [CI]: 1.849–8.744) to be satisfied with care received by their GP. Respondents who experienced that their GP explained things in an easy to understand way (OR: 4.44; 95 % [CI]: 1.817–10.869), knew important things about their medical history (OR: 3.46; 95 % [CI]: 1.502–7.994) and spent enough time with them, also reported to be more satisfied (OR: 3.12; 95 % [CI]: 1.410–6.905). CONCLUSION: German adults having sufficient subjective health literacy skills and experiencing a more patient-centered relationship with their GP are more likely to be satisfied with care. These findings are important for health care organizations aiming to respond to health literacy needs of patients. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-016-1693-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.