Patient-physician mistrust and violence against physicians in Guangdong Province, China: a qualitative study.

Autor: Tucker JD; Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA UNC Project-China Office, Guangdong Provincial STD Control Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China School of Sociology and Anthropology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China Center for Medical Humanities, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China., Cheng Y; School of Sociology and Anthropology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China Center for Medical Humanities, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China., Wong B; UNC Project-China Office, Guangdong Provincial STD Control Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China School of Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA., Gong N; School of Sociology and Anthropology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China Center for Medical Humanities, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China., Nie JB; University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand., Zhu W; School of Medicine, Fudan University, Shanghai, China., McLaughlin MM; Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA., Xie R; The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China., Deng Y; The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China., Huang M; The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China., Wong WC; University of Hong Kong, Ap Lei Chau, Hong Kong University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China., Lan P; The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China., Liu H; The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China Guangdong Institute of Gastroenterology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China., Miao W; The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China., Kleinman A; Harvard Asia Center, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: BMJ open [BMJ Open] 2015 Oct 06; Vol. 5 (10), pp. e008221. Date of Electronic Publication: 2015 Oct 06.
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-008221
Abstrakt: Objective: To better understand the origins, manifestations and current policy responses to patient-physician mistrust in China.
Design: Qualitative study using in-depth interviews focused on personal experiences of patient-physician mistrust and trust.
Setting: Guangdong Province, China.
Participants: One hundred and sixty patients, patient family members, physicians, nurses and hospital administrators at seven hospitals varying in type, geography and stages of achieving goals of health reform. These interviews included purposive selection of individuals who had experienced both trustful and mistrustful patient-physician relationships.
Results: One of the most prominent forces driving patient-physician mistrust was a patient perception of injustice within the medical sphere, related to profit mongering, knowledge imbalances and physician conflicts of interest. Individual physicians, departments and hospitals were explicitly incentivised to generate revenue without evaluation of caregiving. Physicians did not receive training in negotiating medical disputes or humanistic principles that underpin caregiving. Patient-physician mistrust precipitated medical disputes leading to the following outcomes: non-resolution with patient resentment towards physicians; violent resolution such as physical and verbal attacks against physicians; and non-violent resolution such as hospital-mediated dispute resolution. Policy responses to violence included increased hospital security forces, which inadvertently fuelled mistrust. Instead of encouraging communication that facilitated resolution, medical disputes sometimes ignited a vicious cycle leading to mob violence. However, patient-physician interactions at one hospital that has implemented a primary care model embodying health reform goals showed improved patient-physician trust.
Conclusions: The blind pursuit of financial profits at a systems level has eroded patient-physician trust in China. Restructuring incentives, reforming medical education and promoting caregiving are pathways towards restoring trust. Assessing and valuing the quality of caregiving is essential for transitioning away from entrenched profit-focused models. Moral, in addition to regulatory and legal, responses are urgently needed to restore trust.
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Databáze: MEDLINE