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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Isabel C. Scarinci, PhD, MPH, Division of Preventive Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Mt 609, 1530 3rd Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 38157, (205) 975-7177, iscarinci@dopm.uab.edu, Bettina M. Beech, DrPH, MPH, Center for Community Health, University of Memphis, 5050 Poplar Ave, Suite 1800, Memphis, TN 38157, and Jennifer M. Watson, MS, Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, 202 Psychology Building, Memphis, TN 38152.
It has been well documented that physician-patient communication is crucial for patient's adherence to treatment and recommendations. Although the social and physical impairment associated with depression has been documented, little is known about the relationship between depressive symptomatology and physician-patient communication. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between physician-patient communication and depression among a sample of 1,411 African American women recruited through the National Black Women's Health Project. Participants completed a mailed 46-item survey on psychological well-being. The independent variables included demographic variables (age, income, and education) and depressive symptomatology as measured by the CES-D. The dependent variable was the mean score on an 8-item measure of physician-patient communication used in the Commonwealth Fund Survey of Women's Health, and other factors associated with physician-patient communication. A factor analysis confirmed that this scale has only one factor, and the obtained reliability was .94. The internal consistency of the CES-D in this sample was .77. The higher the scores endorsed by participants on the CES-D the worse the self-report communication between physician and patient (B=.001, t=6.04, CI=.007-.013). Further, depressive symptomatology was positively associated with difficulty in talking to physicians, likelihood of discussing problems with physicians, reporting that physician had made offensive comments, and the likelihood of changing physicians due to dissatisfactions (all p's <.01). These results suggest that depressive symptomatology may be an important factor to consider in the physician-patient interaction.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Health Care Quality, Depression
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.