Factors Associated With the Quality of the Patient-Doctor Relationship: A Cross-Sectional Study of Ambulatory Mexican Patients With Rheumatic Diseases

BACKGROUND: The patient-doctor relationship (PDR) is a complex phenomenon with strong cultural determinants, which impacts health-related outcomes and, accordingly, does have ethical implications. The study objective was to describe the PDR from medical encounters between 600 Mexican outpatients with rheumatic diseases and their attending rheumatologists, and to identify factors associated with a good PDR. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed. Patients completed the PDRQ-9 (Patient-Doctor Relationship Questionnaire, 9 items), the HAQ-DI (Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index), the Short-Form 36 items (SF-36), a pain–visual analog scale, and the Ideal Patient Autonomy Scale. Relevant sociodemographic, disease-related, and treatment-related variables were obtained. Patients assigned a PDRQ-9 score to each patient-doctor encounter. Regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with a good PDR, which was defined based on a cutoff point established using the borderline performance method. RESULTS: Patients were primarily middle-aged female subjects (86%), with substantial disease duration (median, 11.1 years), without disability (HAQ-DI within reference range, 55.3%), and with deteriorated quality of life (SF-36 out of reference range, 73.7%–78.6%). Among them, 36.5% had systemic lupus erythematosus and 31.8% had rheumatoid arthritis. There were 422 patients (70.3%) with a good PDR and 523 medical encounters (87.2%) involved certified rheumatologists. Patient paternalistic ideal of autonomy (odds ratio [OR], 3.029; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.793–5.113), SF-36 score (OR, 1.014; 95% CI, 1.003–1.025), female sex (OR, 0.460; 95% CI, 0.233–0.010), and being certified rheumatologist (OR, 1.526; 95% CI, 1.059–2.200) were associated with a good PDR. CONCLUSIONS: Patient-related factors and the degree of experience of the attending physician impact the quality of the PDR, in Mexican outpatients with rheumatic diseases.