Small study compares styles: Osteopathic physicians talk more about feelings

Researchers said MDs and DOs can learn from this research about interactions with patients.

By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. Aug. 25, 2003.

Osteopathic physicians are more personable with their patients than are allopathic doctors.

A study in the July Journal of the American Osteopathic Association found that DOs tend to incorporate issues relating to patients' family and social activities, and are more likely to discuss patient emotions during office visits.

"We're not saying the osteopathic physicians are better at interviewing [patients] than the MDs. What we're saying is they're different," said Tim Carey, MD, MPH, director of the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Researchers audiotaped 54 patient visits with 11 osteopathic and seven allopathic primary care physicians in Maine. They used a 26-item index to analyze the visits, exploring matters such as whether doctors discussed patients' emotional states, or asked patients about their families and other topics unrelated to health.

Osteopathic physicians were more likely to use patient's first names and to discuss the social, family and emotional impact of illnesses, according to the study, "Do Osteopathic Physicians Differ in Patient Interaction from Allopathic Physicians? An Empirically Derived Approach."

For example, 66% of DOs discussed a patient's emotional state compared with about one-third of MDs. A higher percentage of DOs (38%) than MDs (14%) asked, "Do you have any questions?"

Allopathic physicians scored higher in discussing literature or scientific basis of treatment.