ACCOUNTS OF DISAGREEMENTS WITH DOCTORS

Patients' perceptions of health care, particularly as they relate to d isagreements of various kinds, have emerged as a particular topic of i nterest to practitioners and social scientists since the mid-1980s in Great Britain. Most research, however, has concentrated upon disagreem ents that have turned into formal complaints to health authorities and community and hospital trusts. This means that the focus has been upo n the strong end of disagreements where action has already been taken to redress a grievance. This is likely to leave many aspects of the re lationship between felt disagreement and disagreement action unexplore d. Why, for example, when they feel dissatisfied with the health care that they, or a relative has received, do some people take action and others not? And, if they do take action, what is involved? Are there a ny associations between the kind of action taken-for example, doing no thing, verbally challenging the doctor, seeking a second opinion, or d iscontinuing treatment-and the nature of the felt disagreement, the ki nd of health problem being treated, or the social characteristics of t he patient concerned? In this paper we explore some of these questions through data collected as part of a community sample of individuals i n the West of Scotland. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights rese rved.