A STUDY OF DOCTORS AND PATIENTS COMMUNICATION DURING A PRIMARY-CARE CONSULTATION - IMPLICATIONS FOR COMMUNICATION TRAINING

Previous coding schemes used to assess doctor-patient interaction have been inadequate with respect to the scope of categories used to ident ify: (a) information exchange and relational communication, and (b) th ematic topics of talk. Thirty-two doctor-patient interviews were analy zed with a new coding scheme that includes multiple categories of info rmation exchange and relational communication, and allows for identifi cation of thematic topics of talk. The results revealed both effective and less effective patterns of information exchange and relational co mmunication between doctors and patients. These patterns were further elaborated by examining the topics of talk with which they occurred. P articular attention was given to implications the results have for com munication skills training for doctors and patients.