The Doctor-Patient Relationship: Can it Be Measured? A Review of the Measurement of the Interpersonal Aspects of Care

Abstract

The importance of the doctor-patient relationship has been increasingly recognized, especially during the past three decades. With this recognition has followed the need for adequate measurements with which to study it. This paper reviews 8 methods that have been designed to measure the doctor-patient interaction in family practice. In addition, to provide appropriate background and perspective, two other groups of instruments are described; namely, those developed by the client-centred therapists and those commonly referred to as systematic interaction analysis methods. Both sets of instruments are older and have been used extensively. However, they were not designed specifically for the context of the doctor-patient interaction and are shown to be inadequate for its measurement. Thus, there is a need to develop new methods to describe and analyze the doctor-patient interaction in family practice. Some of the newer methods have been demonstrated validity and reliability and one has been shown an association between the doctor-patient interaction and patient outcomes. The work continues.