Lasting impressions: Influence of the initial hospital consultation for chronic pelvic pain on dimensions of patient satisfaction at follow-up

• Published in: Journal of psychosomatic research 2006-02, Vol.60 (2), p.163-167
• Main Authors: Stones, R. William, Lawrence, Wendy T., Selfe, Susan A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Affect; Biological and medical sciences; Chronic pelvic pain; Cognition; Communication; Consultation; Consultations; Doctor-Patient communication; England; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Hospitals, University; Humans; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Hospital; Pain Measurement; Patient Acceptance of Health Care - psychology; Patient Education as Topic; Patient Satisfaction; Pelvic pain; Pelvic Pain - etiology; Pelvic Pain - psychology; Pelvic Pain - therapy; Physician-Patient Relations; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Referral and Consultation; Satisfaction; Set (Psychology); Surveys and Questionnaires; Therapeutical relation and framework; Treatments
• ISSN: 0022-3999; 1879-1360
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2005.06.077

Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a common condition in women, and care experiences are distressing and unsatisfactory for many. Research suggests that elements of the initial hospital consultation influence clinical outcome. This study aimed to identify the dimensions through which initial consultations were subsequently recalled at follow-up. A questionnaire study of 100 women, 6 months following a hospital gynaecology consultation for CPP, was conducted. Measures of pain and ratings of the medical consultation were completed at initial consultation and at follow-up. Follow-up questionnaire items loaded to constructs of “affect”, “expectation”, and “cognition”, forming three subscales. Patients' initial ratings of the consultation and scores on all three subscales measured at follow-up were correlated, remaining significant for both affect and expectation after controlling for current pain status. Doctor's affect and the appropriateness of information to meet expectations are important influences on experiences of care and contribute to the long-term therapeutic element of the consultation.