Introduction:

As a substantial component of the doctor-patient relationship, communication can be crucial in the construction of a diagnostic hypothesis and patient adherence to treatment. It is therefore necessary to understand the factors that influence the communicative process and describe the effectiveness of the communication.

Objective:

The aim of this study is to evaluate the impacts of inadequate communication in the doctor-patient relationship.

Method:

Twenty-three voluntary patients of legal age completed questionnaires on socioeconomic information, language use, and impressions of the medical consultation. The doctor filled out a questionnaire regarding their experience of the consultation.

Result:

The results indicated that patients experienced some difficulty in communicating their feelings to the doctor, and furthermore, in 20% of cases, doctors encountered some degree of difficulty in reaching a diagnostic hypothesis based on the patient’s report, which is related to the predominantly non-descriptive language used by most patients.

Conclusion:

Given the need for high quality communication between the doctor and the patient, understanding the factors that impact the communicative process is the first step towards ensuring effective care with patient autonomy and improved adherence to the treatment plan.

        · abstract in Portuguese     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )