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The Effect of Screen-to-Screen Versus Face-to-Face Consultation on Doctor-Patient Communication: An Experimental Study with Simulated Patients

BACKGROUND: Despite the emergence of Web-based patient-provider contact, it is still unclear how the quality of Web-based doctor-patient interactions differs from face-to-face interactions. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine (1) the impact of a consultation medium on doctors’ and patients’ commu...

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Autores principales: Tates, Kiek, Antheunis, Marjolijn L, Kanters, Saskia, Nieboer, Theodoor E, Gerritse, Maria BE
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: JMIR Publications 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5752968/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29263017
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/jmir.8033
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author Tates, Kiek
Antheunis, Marjolijn L
Kanters, Saskia
Nieboer, Theodoor E
Gerritse, Maria BE
author_facet Tates, Kiek
Antheunis, Marjolijn L
Kanters, Saskia
Nieboer, Theodoor E
Gerritse, Maria BE
author_sort Tates, Kiek
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Despite the emergence of Web-based patient-provider contact, it is still unclear how the quality of Web-based doctor-patient interactions differs from face-to-face interactions. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine (1) the impact of a consultation medium on doctors’ and patients’ communicative behavior in terms of information exchange, interpersonal relationship building, and shared decision making and (2) the mediating role of doctors’ and patients’ communicative behavior on satisfaction with both types of consultation medium. METHODS: Doctor-patient consultations on pelvic organ prolapse were simulated, both in a face-to-face and in a screen-to-screen (video) setting. Twelve medical interns and 6 simulated patients prepared 4 different written scenarios and were randomized to perform a total of 48 consultations. Effects of the consultations were measured by questionnaires that participants filled out directly after the consultation. RESULTS: With respect to patient-related outcomes, satisfaction, perceived information exchange, interpersonal relationship building, and perceived shared decision making showed no significant differences between face-to-face and screen-to-screen consultations. Patients’ attitude toward Web-based communication (b=−.249, P=.02 and patients’ perceived time and attention (b=.271, P=.03) significantly predicted patients’ perceived interpersonal relationship building. Patients’ perceived shared decision making was positively related to their satisfaction with the consultation (b=.254, P=.005). Overall, patients experienced significantly greater shared decision making with a female doctor (mean 4.21, SD 0.49) than with a male doctor (mean 3.66 [SD 0.73]; b=.401, P=.009). Doctor-related outcomes showed no significant differences in satisfaction, perceived information exchange, interpersonal relationship building, and perceived shared decision making between the conditions. There was a positive relationship between perceived information exchange and doctors’ satisfaction with the consultation (b=.533, P<.001). Furthermore, doctors’ perceived interpersonal relationship building was positively related to doctors’ satisfaction with the consultation (b=.331, P=.003). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the quality of doctor-patient communication, as indicated by information exchange, interpersonal relationship building, and shared decision making, did not differ significantly between Web-based and face-to-face consultations. Doctors and simulated patients were equally satisfied with both types of consultation medium, and no differences were found in the manner in which participants perceived communicative behavior during these consultations. The findings suggest that worries about a negative impact of Web-based video consultation on the quality of patient-provider consultations seem unwarranted as they offer the same interaction quality and satisfaction level as regular face-to-face consultations.
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spelling pubmed-57529682018-01-08 The Effect of Screen-to-Screen Versus Face-to-Face Consultation on Doctor-Patient Communication: An Experimental Study with Simulated Patients Tates, Kiek Antheunis, Marjolijn L Kanters, Saskia Nieboer, Theodoor E Gerritse, Maria BE J Med Internet Res Original Paper BACKGROUND: Despite the emergence of Web-based patient-provider contact, it is still unclear how the quality of Web-based doctor-patient interactions differs from face-to-face interactions. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine (1) the impact of a consultation medium on doctors’ and patients’ communicative behavior in terms of information exchange, interpersonal relationship building, and shared decision making and (2) the mediating role of doctors’ and patients’ communicative behavior on satisfaction with both types of consultation medium. METHODS: Doctor-patient consultations on pelvic organ prolapse were simulated, both in a face-to-face and in a screen-to-screen (video) setting. Twelve medical interns and 6 simulated patients prepared 4 different written scenarios and were randomized to perform a total of 48 consultations. Effects of the consultations were measured by questionnaires that participants filled out directly after the consultation. RESULTS: With respect to patient-related outcomes, satisfaction, perceived information exchange, interpersonal relationship building, and perceived shared decision making showed no significant differences between face-to-face and screen-to-screen consultations. Patients’ attitude toward Web-based communication (b=−.249, P=.02 and patients’ perceived time and attention (b=.271, P=.03) significantly predicted patients’ perceived interpersonal relationship building. Patients’ perceived shared decision making was positively related to their satisfaction with the consultation (b=.254, P=.005). Overall, patients experienced significantly greater shared decision making with a female doctor (mean 4.21, SD 0.49) than with a male doctor (mean 3.66 [SD 0.73]; b=.401, P=.009). Doctor-related outcomes showed no significant differences in satisfaction, perceived information exchange, interpersonal relationship building, and perceived shared decision making between the conditions. There was a positive relationship between perceived information exchange and doctors’ satisfaction with the consultation (b=.533, P<.001). Furthermore, doctors’ perceived interpersonal relationship building was positively related to doctors’ satisfaction with the consultation (b=.331, P=.003). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the quality of doctor-patient communication, as indicated by information exchange, interpersonal relationship building, and shared decision making, did not differ significantly between Web-based and face-to-face consultations. Doctors and simulated patients were equally satisfied with both types of consultation medium, and no differences were found in the manner in which participants perceived communicative behavior during these consultations. The findings suggest that worries about a negative impact of Web-based video consultation on the quality of patient-provider consultations seem unwarranted as they offer the same interaction quality and satisfaction level as regular face-to-face consultations. JMIR Publications 2017-12-20 /pmc/articles/PMC5752968/ /pubmed/29263017 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/jmir.8033 Text en ©Kiek Tates, Marjolijn L Antheunis, Saskia Kanters, Theodoor E Nieboer, Maria BE Gerritse. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 20.12.2017. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Tates, Kiek
Antheunis, Marjolijn L
Kanters, Saskia
Nieboer, Theodoor E
Gerritse, Maria BE
The Effect of Screen-to-Screen Versus Face-to-Face Consultation on Doctor-Patient Communication: An Experimental Study with Simulated Patients
title The Effect of Screen-to-Screen Versus Face-to-Face Consultation on Doctor-Patient Communication: An Experimental Study with Simulated Patients
title_full The Effect of Screen-to-Screen Versus Face-to-Face Consultation on Doctor-Patient Communication: An Experimental Study with Simulated Patients
title_fullStr The Effect of Screen-to-Screen Versus Face-to-Face Consultation on Doctor-Patient Communication: An Experimental Study with Simulated Patients
title_full_unstemmed The Effect of Screen-to-Screen Versus Face-to-Face Consultation on Doctor-Patient Communication: An Experimental Study with Simulated Patients
title_short The Effect of Screen-to-Screen Versus Face-to-Face Consultation on Doctor-Patient Communication: An Experimental Study with Simulated Patients
title_sort effect of screen-to-screen versus face-to-face consultation on doctor-patient communication: an experimental study with simulated patients
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5752968/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29263017
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/jmir.8033
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