London, June 1 (IANS) Doctors often misunderstand problems patients face regarding dental or skin conditions, says a new study.
‘To limit this problem, specific courses in communication should be included in the training of healthcare personnel,’ says Francesca Sampogna, researcher in epidemiology at the Istituto Dermopatico dell’Immacolata, Rome.
Sampogna investigated how healthcare providers perceive patients’ psychosocial situation due to skin or dental conditions.
She found, among other things, that dermatologists often underestimate the occurrence of anxiety and depression among their patients.
‘I believe this can be the result of faulty communication with the patient, but also of the fact that the doctors only look at the clinical situation.’
‘At the same time I’m aware that it isn’t easy to evaluate a patient’s mental status in just a few minutes, but even in a limited time a doctor should be able to create a dialogue with his patient…’
Two of the studies in the dissertation deal with patients with dental conditions. The results show that dentists have a tendency to underestimate their patients’ quality of life.
This means that in general patients’ dental status does not have such a negative impact on their quality of life as dentists believe, says an Istituto Dermopatico release.
‘It’s an interesting finding, and I believe part of the explanation may be found in the differences in how patients and dentists or dental hygienists perceive the situation.’
‘To patients, the dental condition, even though it may be serious, is only one of multiple components in their lives, whereas the providers’ knowledge of the condition can lead them to overestimate how patients are affected by it,’ says Sampogna.
‘The differences I found in my studies are a sign of communication problems. Therefore, specific courses in communication should be included in the training of care providers and can be a part of continuing education.’
