THE EFFECTS OF PHYSICIAN ELDER PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS ON HEALTH COMMUNICATION

Doctor-patient communication is affected by a rarely studied phenomeno n, the difference in demographic characteristics of the participants. Variations in age, sex, class, race, and religion of doctors and patie nts are reviewed, and the effects of similarities and disparities betw een them are analyzed for their relevance to successful communication. Also considered are the length of the doctor-patient relationship, it s locale, and the health of both patients and doctors. Last, the perva siveness of medical uncertainty is shown to underscore the need for ef fective mutual understanding, and the implications of characteristics of future cohorts in the 21st century are noted.