Gazette
masthead
   About The Gazette Search Back Issues Contact Us    
The newspaper of The Johns Hopkins University September 12, 2005 | Vol. 35 No. 2
 
Patient's Advice for Doctors

By David March
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Attention doctors: Want patients to follow your advice? Treat them with dignity, a Johns Hopkins study has found.

In a national survey of more than 5,000 Americans, those who said they were treated with dignity during their last medical encounter were more likely to report higher levels of satisfaction with their care, adhere to therapy and get preventive services.

Hopkins researchers, using data from the Commonwealth Fund 2001 Health Care Quality Survey, interviewed 5,514 Americans who reported having a medical encounter within the previous two years and who were white, African American, Hispanic or Asian. Most respondents were female (65 percent), had at least some college education (62 percent), had incomes of more than 200 percent of the poverty level (66 percent) and spoke English as their primary language (93 percent).

Overall, 76 percent of respondents reported being treated with a great deal of respect and dignity, and 77 percent reported being involved in decisions to the extent that they wished.

Being treated with dignity was significantly associated with adherence to treatment plans for racial and ethnic minorities, whereas being involved in decisions was significantly associated with adherence for whites.

These results are published in the July/August issue of the Annals of Family Medicine.

GO TO SEPTEMBER 12, 2005 TABLE OF CONTENTS.
GO TO THE GAZETTE FRONT PAGE.


The Gazette | The Johns Hopkins University | Suite 540 | 901 S. Bond St. | Baltimore, MD 21231 | 443-287-9900 | gazette@jhu.edu