Patients' perceptions of physicians communication and outcomes of the accrual to trial process

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations among patients' perc eptions of their physicians' communicative behavior during the informed con sent interview, the patient's feeling of being confirmed by the physician a nd satisfied with care delivered by the physician, and the patient's decisi on to participate in a clinical trial or not. Respondents included 130 canc er patients who were eligible for a clinical trial and who had recently dis cussed trial participation with their physicians. Results indicated that a linear combination of the variables physician affiliative style, physician dominant or controlling style, patient satisfaction, patient confirmation, patient preference for decision making, patient desire for information, and patient age discriminate between patients who agree to participate in clin ical trials and patients who refuse to participate. Physicians' affiliative communicative behaviors and patient satisfaction were clearly important to patients who agreed to participate. Motivations for patients who declined to participate in trials were less clear. Implications for physicians who o ffer clinical trials to their patients are that specific communication skil ls may enhance their patients' satisfaction and may help increase enrollmen t in clinical trials.