Patients are more satisfied with a patient centred approach

Patients are more satisfied, more enabled, and describe fewer symptoms if their doctor provides a positive, patient centred approach. Little and colleagues (p 908) conducted a questionnaire study of 865 consecutive patients attending three general practices to identify patients' perception of enablement, satisfaction, and burden of symptoms. They identified five components of patient centredness that can be measured reliably and used to predict different outcomes: communication and partnership, personal relationship, health promotion, positive approach to diagnosis and prognosis, and interest in effect on the patient's life.