Table 5 Family physicians’ perceived level of risk posed by the barriers to effective communication, ranked in descending order of pentiles and grouped by domains (n = 170)
Domain | Subdomain | Pentile ranking | Barriers to communication | Level of risk | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Moderate- Very high | Very low- Low | ||||||
Frequency | Percent | Frequency | Percent | ||||
Organisational Factors | Time limitation | 1 | Consultation time limitation | 86 | 50.6% | 84 | 49.4% |
Medical record use | 2 | Preoccupation with medical records | 59 | 34.7% | 111 | 65.3% | |
Physical set up | 5 | Unsuitability of the physical set up | 10 | 5.9% | 160 | 94.1% | |
Communication of Information | Lack of shared understanding of history | 1 | Presentation with multiple problems | 87 | 51.2% | 83 | 48.8% |
Lack of shared management | 2 | Patient not following through with treatment plan | 61 | 35.9% | 109 | 64.1% | |
Lack of shared understanding of history | 3 | Disorganised history by patient | 49 | 28.8% | 121 | 71.2% | |
Lack of shared management | 4 | Patient’s lack of interest in self-care | 30 | 17.7% | 140 | 82.4% | |
Lack of shared understanding of history | 4 | Inconsistent information provided by patient | 29 | 17.1% | 141 | 82.9% | |
Lack of shared management | 4 | Patient not buying into treatment plan | 26 | 15.3% | 144 | 84.7% | |
Lack of shared understanding of diagnosis | 4 | Patient’s difficulty understanding implications of diagnosis | 23 | 13.5% | 147 | 86.5% | |
Lack of shared understanding of diagnosis | 5 | Difficulty reconciling patient self-diagnosis with physician’s diagnosis | 13 | 7.7% | 157 | 92.4% | |
Lack of shared understanding of diagnosis | 5 | Difficulty getting patient to understand the diagnosis | 8 | 4.7% | 162 | 95.3% | |
Linguistic and Cultural Factors | Difficulty with language use | 4 | Inadequate translation by interpreter | 26 | 15.3% | 144 | 84.7% |
Lack of cultural competency | 4 | Cultural beliefs interference with diagnosis and management | 26 | 15.3% | 144 | 84.7% | |
Lack of cultural competency | 5 | Unfamiliarity with cultural alternative therapies | 21 | 12.4% | 149 | 87.7% | |
Difficulty with language use | 5 | Difficulty with dialect/language | 10 | 5.9% | 160 | 94.1% | |
Difficulty with language use | 5 | Inappropriate interpreter | 9 | 5.3% | 161 | 94.7% | |
Personal Characteristics and Attitudes | Failure of rapport building | 5 | Patient’s lack of interest in building a partnership with physician | 11 | 6.5% | 159 | 93.5% |
Failure of rapport building | 5 | Patient’s lack of trust with physician | 8 | 4.7% | 162 | 95.3% | |
Failure of rapport building | 5 | Difficulty establishing rapport | 7 | 4.1% | 163 | 95.9% | |