SynthesisThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2009
The patient-doctor relationship: a synthesis of the qualitative literature on patients' perspectives.
Synthesis in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 153 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
153 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Impact of Digital Health on Patient-Provider Relationships in Respiratory Secondary Care Based on Qualitative and Quantitative Evidence: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Perspectives of patients on the role of general practice pharmacists: a systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative studies.BMC primary care · 2025Pooled it
- Physicians', pharmacists', and nurses' education of patients about antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance in primary care settings: a qualitative systematic literature review.Frontiers in antibiotics · 2024Pooled it
- Precision cancer medicine and the doctor-patient relationship: a systematic review and narrative synthesis.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2023Pooled it
- How patient-generated health data and patient-reported outcomes affect patient-clinician relationships: A systematic review.Health informatics journal · 2020Pooled it
- A scale assessing doctor-patient communication in a context of acute conditions based on a systematic review.PloS one · 2018Pooled it
- When to stop? Decision-making when children's cancer treatment is no longer curative: a mixed-method systematic review.BMC pediatrics · 2014Pooled it
- Trial
- Continuity of care in the context of a primary health care reform: a follow-up after the SwedishScandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- Deprescribing Decisions in Swiss Primary Care: Low Concordance Between General Practitioners and Older Adults.Journal of general internal medicine · 2026Article
- Facilitators of good consultations in primary health care clinics in Botswana: a qualitative study of patients' and doctors' views.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- Continuity of care and patient-reported experiences in Norwegian general practice: are they linked, and does the measurement of continuity matter?Family practice · 2026Article
- The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Shaping the Doctor-Patient Relationship: A Narrative Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Continuity of primary care and end-of-life care costs in dementia: a retrospective cohort study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Article
- System-Level Transformations to Increase Patient Participation in Clinical Trials.JCO oncology practice · 2025Article
- Article
- Translation and Validation of the Malay Doctor-Patient Communication Questionnaire: A Cross-Sectional Study Among Patients Receiving Hemodialysis in Kelantan, Malaysia.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The ethics of anti-love drugs qua precommitment strategy.Theoretical medicine and bioethics · 2025Article
- Article
- Factors that influence communication between healthcare providers and sexual minority men in HIV service delivery in Zambia.AIDS care · 2025Article
93 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe patient-doctor relationship is an important but poorly defined topic. In order to comprehensively assess its significance for patient care, a clearer understanding of the concept is required.
aimTo derive a conceptual framework of the factors that define patient-doctor relationships from the perspective of patients. DESIGN OF STUDY: Systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative studies.
methodMedline, EMBASE, PsychINFO and Web of Science databases were searched. Studies were screened for relevance and appraised for quality. The findings were synthesised using a thematic approach.
resultsFrom 1985 abstracts, 11 studies from four countries were included in the final synthesis. They examined the patient-doctor relationship generally (n = 3), or in terms of loyalty (n = 3), personal care (n = 2), trust (n = 2), and continuity (n = 1). Longitudinal care (seeing the same doctor) and consultation experiences (patients' encounters with the doctor) were found to be the main processes by which patient-doctor relationships are promoted. The resulting depth of patient-doctor relationship comprises four main elements: knowledge, trust, loyalty, and regard. These elements have doctor and patient aspects to them, which may be reciprocally related.
conclusionA framework is proposed that distinguishes between dynamic factors that develop or maintain the relationship, and characteristics that constitute an ongoing depth of relationship. Having identified the different elements involved, future research should examine for associations between longitudinal care, consultation experiences, and depth of patient-doctor relationship, and, in turn, their significance for patient care.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.