• Daniel R Schweitzer, Joseph Ting, and William von Hippel.
• Department of Neurology, Mater Health, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
• Intern Med J. 2023 Feb 1; 53 (2): 250254250-254.

BackgroundPrior research suggests that the quality of communication between doctors and patients influences the quality of medical care and adherence to treatment regimens, but little is known about factors that contribute to successful interactions between doctors and patients.AimTo examine the quality of communication across the different medical specialties.MethodsA survey questionnaire was undertaken at a large metropolitan-based hospital in Brisbane, Australia. In this initial study we surveyed 67 doctors across various specialties on a range of social cognition and personality measures. We then rated each of the specialties on the degree to which they rely on both procedures and diagnostics, as well as the extent to which they involve patient communication.ResultsA regression analysis using spss 26.0 was undertaken to ascertain if doctor's satisfaction with their communication was related to these three aspects of the various specialties. Results revealed that communication satisfaction was negatively related to the degree to which the specialty relies on diagnostics. No relationship emerged between reliance on procedures and communication satisfaction. Last, communication frequency was positively related to communication satisfaction.ConclusionsWe propose two possible accounts for this finding regarding diagnostics: (i) the cognitive demands of diagnosis disrupt communication; and/or (ii) diagnoses are interpreted by patients as opinions with which they are sometimes motivated to disagree. Further research is needed to replicate these findings and establish the underlying mechanism.© 2021 Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

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