Determining the contradictions of components of Calgary-Cambridge physician-patient communication skills with the attitude of Iranian patients

The absence of an appropriate relationship between the patient and the medical staff can lead to verbal and physical arguments and, therefore, lead to intervention from the police and filing a complaint and consequent legal problems. In Iran, patient communication skills are taught to medical students based on the Calgary-Cambridge observational model. As the Iranian society has social, cultural, and belief differences, the present study was designed and performed with the aim of determining the contradictions of the components of this model with the attitude of Iranian patients.  

The present cross-sectional study was performed in Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran, Iran, in 2016. The sample consisted of conscious patients admitted to the emergency department. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to evaluate patients’ attitudes towards communication skills components based on the Calgary-Cambridge model. The questionnaire consisted of 33 questions regarding various communication skills components, and its reliability and validity were confirmed before being used in this study.

Overall, 100 patients with the mean age of 43.1 ± 16.7 years participated in the study, 51% of whom were male. The attitude of patients was contradictory to the guideline in some cases. There was more agreement with shaking hands with the physician among those residing in villages (p = 0.01); men more frequently agreed with being called by their name (p = 0.03), but women preferred to be called “madam” without a name or family name (p = 0.04); 68% of the patients preferred to sit across the physician during the visit; only 31% of the patients believed that the physician should ask for permission before the examination; only 31% of the patients agreed that a physician could look at a patient from the opposite sex. In other items, no significant difference was observed.

The attitude of patients participating in the present study was contradictory to the mentioned guideline in some cases. Therefore, it would be better to revise the present model of teaching Calgary-Cambridge communication skills for the physician-patient relationship in some categories according to the culture of the Iranian society.