Clinicians and Patients Differ In Perspectives On Compliance Issues
A report from Consumers Union developed from their survey of more than 39,090 subscribers last year has some implications for patient compliance:
- Patients almost unanimously said they “completely” or “mostly” followed their doctor’s advice. But according to a separate survey of 335 primary-care physicians drawn randomly from a national panel, 59 percent of doctors said their patients often failed to adhere to the prescribed course of treatment. This nonadherence from patients ranked first among troublesome patient behaviors listed on the survey.
- Two-thirds of patients reported that doctors never brought up the costs of treatments and tests.
- Among patients who received prescriptions from their doctors, 31 percent reported that their doctor didn’t adequately explain possible side effects.
- Almost 40 percent of patients researched their medical conditions online. But 41 percent of doctors surveyed said their patients often showed up poorly informed because of bad information found online.
Source: Consumer Reports Survey: Patients and Doctors Disagree On Some Essential Issues The complete report is available in the February 2007 issue of Consumer Reports.