Preference for patient-centered communication among the citizens of the Visegrad countries

Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate and compare the preferences that citizens of four Visegrad countries hold concerning the communication between patient and provider.

Methods: The patient-practitioner orientation scale was used on a general population in our research, which consists of the Sharing and Caring subscales and assesses patient-centered or doctor-centered orientation toward communication. The statistical analysis included 4000 respondents of citizens from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary. When comparing the various demographic data and the four countries with each other univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were performed.

Results: Being female, middle aged, having a higher education and a poor health status were associated with significantly higher Sharing and Caring scores. Also, Hungarian citizens had a significantly higher Caring score compared to the other three countries.

Conclusions: Key demographic variables were identified that affect how citizens perceive the communication between patient and provider. With the exception of Caring among Hungarian citizens, no differences were observed among the Visegrad countries.

Practice implications: These findings have potential implications for understanding the preferences of the citizens and thus better promote a more patient-centered communication.