Title: Influence of socio-demographic factors in doctor-patient communication in India

Authors: Payal Mehra

Addresses: Indian Institute of Management Lucknow, Prabandhnagar Off Sitapur Road Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 226013, India

Abstract: The current study assesses three communication styles of doctors-directive expressive, relational and thinker/analytical, and their impact on patient satisfaction in primary care centres in India. Most contemporary research studies are in the context of mature (i.e., Western) economies of the world; less empirical research has been undertaken in emerging economies such as India, where healthcare systems work very differently. The results reveal that patients' satisfaction with the healthcare was associated positively with both the directive/expressive and relational communication styles. The rural, low income and the illiterate population in India valued the directive style of communication and were satisfied with it, in contrast to the urban, high income, and the literate population. Severity of the illness, number of prior visits, type of medical information seekers, doctor's gender, waiting time in the clinic, consultation time, literacy, and place of stay (rural/urban) affected the importance of the doctors' communication in the patients' evaluation of healthcare.

Keywords: patient-doctor interaction; socio-demographic influencers; cognitive empathy; affective empathy; expertise; interaction styles; relationship-centred medical paradigm; power distance index; socio-demographics; doctor-patient communication; India; healthcare systems; doctors; patients.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICBM.2014.060363

International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 2014 Vol.8 No.3, pp.387 - 412

Received: 10 Aug 2012
Accepted: 10 Nov 2012
Published online: 07 Jun 2014 *

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