Patients respond to good bedside manners

Three recent studies show that physicians' communication techniques play an important role in the doctor-patient relationship.

By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. April 16, 2001.

What a difference a nice smile and a pleasant attitude make!

A group of researchers overseas recently found that physicians who are friendly to their patients are more effective than doctors who keep their distance. Two other recent studies showed the importance of the doctor-patient relationship, with women more focused than men on a physician's communication skills and personal approach.

In the eyes of most patients, bedside manners matter.

"Practitioners who attempted to form a warm and friendly relationship with their patients ... were found to be more effective than practitioners who kept their consultations impersonal, formal or uncertain," according to a study published in the March 10 issue of The Lancet.

The study examined 25 surveys on doctor-patient relationships and consistently found that doctors with good bedside manners had a better impact than physicians who were less personal. Three of the 25 showed that enhancing a patient's expectations through positive information and reassurance "significantly influenced health outcomes."

Meanwhile, a recent study that analyzed the role gender plays in doctor-patient relationships found that both genders are concerned about how they are treated, but women care more about having a strong relationship with their doctor, said co-author Jerome Williams, PhD, an associate professor of marketing at Penn State University's Smeal College of Business Administration. Women want to have a sense of control and don't want to be talked down to. Men are more interested in treatment. [...]