Exploring physician perceptions of the impact of emotions on behaviour during interactions with patients.
Summary of "Exploring physician perceptions of the impact of emotions on behaviour during interactions with patients."
BACKGROUND:
There is relatively little research on affective influences on physician behaviour, especially on prescribing and referrals. Affects include transitory moods and lasting emotions.
OBJECTIVES:
We explored physician perceptions of the impact of four mood states on perceived rates of five behaviours: talking with patients, prescribing medications and referrals for laboratory tests, diagnostic tests and specialists. We also examined whether burnout modified the impact of moods on behaviour.
METHODS:
A total of 188 family physicians responded anonymously to a self-reporting questionnaire that assessed the perceived rate of behaviours when in a positive, negative, tired and nervous mood and burnout level.
RESULTS:
Five analyses of variance with repeated measures on mood states and contrast analyses computed the effects of mood and burnout on the behaviours. The mood factor was found significant for each of the behaviours, in all P < 0.001. The respondents reported that on good mood compared with negative mood days, they talked more, prescribed less and referred less. The burnout factor was also significant: high compared with low burnout physicians had higher perceived rates of all referral behaviours. Significant mood × burnout interactions indicated that the effects of mood were stronger among high compared with low burnout physicians.
CONCLUSIONS:
The physicians perceived that their moods had different effects on different behaviours: the negative mood decreased talking and increased prescribing and referral behaviours and vice versa for the positive mood. Burnout intensified the effects of moods. The incremental effects of negative moods and burnout may impair quality of health care and may be costly to health services.
Affiliation
Department of Sociology of Health, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva.
Journal Details
This article was published in the following journal.
Name: Family practice
ISSN: 1460-2229
Pages:
Links
- PubMed Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20833703
- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/fampra/cmq070
Medical and Biotech [MESH] Definitions
Physician-patient Relations
The interactions between physician and patient.
Economics, Medical
Economic aspects of the field of medicine, the medical profession, and health care. It includes the economic and financial impact of disease in general on the patient, the physician, society, or government.
Physician Impairment
The physician's inability to practice medicine with reasonable skill and safety to the patient due to the physician's disability. Common causes include alcohol and drug abuse, mental illness, physical disability, and senility.
Two-hybrid System Techniques
Screening techniques first developed in yeast to identify genes encoding interacting proteins. Variations are used to evaluate interplay between proteins and other molecules. Two-hybrid techniques refer to analysis for protein-protein interactions, one-hybrid for DNA-protein interactions, three-hybrid interactions for RNA-protein interactions or ligand-based interactions. Reverse n-hybrid techniques refer to analysis for mutations or other small molecules that dissociate known interactions.
Elementary Particle Interactions
The interactions of particles responsible for their scattering and transformations (decays and reactions). Because of interactions, an isolated particle may decay into other particles. Two particles passing near each other may transform, perhaps into the same particles but with changed momenta (elastic scattering) or into other particles (inelastic scattering). Interactions fall into three groups: strong, electromagnetic, and weak. (From McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology, 7th ed)
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