Habilidades sociais na relação médico-paciente e satisfação no atendimento em serviço público e privado

Abstract

The Doctor-Patient Relationship has been identified as an important variable in Health Care’s adherence, efficiency, and effectiveness; The Doctor’s Social Skills, seem to be essential components in its establishment. The general aim of this study was to evaluate doctors’ social skills who works in social and private health systems, examining the relations between these skills and patient satisfaction with regard to the medical consultation. The Study 1 describes the Matched-Pair Instrument (MPI)’s translation and cultural adaptation; the instrument assesses doctor’s social skills during a consultation. Nineteen (19) individuals were involved in the translation and adaptation process. Psychometric analyzes showed satisfactory internal consistency for the patients version (Cronbach's alpha: α= 0,893), presenting similar properties to the original version. The Study 2 aimed to evaluate the social skills of doctors in both Social and Private Health System, considering the self-perception of the professional and the patient’s perceptions, and, examining how the interaction of these variables influence on patient satisfaction. The participants were 195 patients and 30 physicians, distributed in both health systems. The instruments used in the study were: the translated and validated version of the Matched-Pair Instrument (MPI), a Partial Version of the Social Skills Inventory (HIS-Del-Prette), and the Medical Care’s Patient Satisfaction Evaluation Questionnaire (QASPAM). The overall average scores in the MPI for both Patients (M = 77.5, SD = 12.3) and Physicians (M = 76.5, SD = 11.8) showed low, positive and statistically significant correlation (r = 0.16, p = 0.030); The Patients showed significantly higher ratings than the Doctors’ one. The professionals of social health system evaluated themselves as less skilled (M=69,93; SD=13,55) than the participants of private system (M=76,5; SD = 10.1). These data were similar to those obtained in the analysis of the patient’s questionnaires, since the overall average of public system patients (M=72.31; SD= 12.25) was significantly lower than the average of the private system (M=80.80; SD= 10.59). The professionals who worked in both health systems rated themselves, and were rated by their patients, as significantly (p <0.000) more skilled in the private system consultation than in the social one. Patients showed satisfaction with the service offered in both social and private health systems; however, private attended patients presented higher satisfaction’ scores. The scores levels of discontentment in the socials’s attended patients were relatively higher than those of the private system, especially in the following items: The Waiting Time in the office, before the consultation; the duration of the medical consultation and Medical Sensitivity. Future research have been suggested to increase the validity of the instruments used for the investigation. The results of this study seem to show that physicians who work in the private service evaluated up and received more satisfactory evaluations of their patients, in relation to social skills and satisfaction with care, than those who work in the public service. The data obtained in this study emphasized the relevance of both evaluation and training social skills for health professionals.