ArticleAdvances in health sciences education : theory and practice2013
Doctor-patient communication in Southeast Asia: a different culture?
Article in Advances in health sciences education : theory and practice, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 87 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
87 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Evaluating the impact of self-management interventions on COPD outcomes in low- and middle-income countries in Asia: a systematic review.Health and quality of life outcomes · 2025Pooled it
- Conceptualisation of Mental Health Recovery by Health Professionals and Students in Southeast Asia: A Qualitative Systematic Review and Meta-Aggregation.Journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing · 2025Pooled it
- Vaccine hesitancy educational interventions for medical students: A systematic narrative review in western countries.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2024Pooled it
- Decision aids for cancer survivors' engagement with survivorship care services after primary treatment: a systematic review.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2024Pooled it
- Differences in Older Patients' Attitudes Toward Deprescribing at Contextual and Individual Level.Frontiers in public health · 2022Pooled it
- A systematic review of the efficiency of recruitment to stroke rehabilitation randomised controlled trials.Trials · 2020Pooled it
- Interventions to improve participation in health-care decisions in non-Western countries: A systematic review and narrative synthesis.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2019Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Barriers and Facilitators to Physician-Patient Communication in Chinese Tertiary Hospitals From the Perspectives of Hospital-Based Physicians and Patient Relations Coordinators: Qualitative Study.Interactive journal of medical research · 2026Article
- Addressing low-value care (LVC) in Asia: a narrative review of Choosing Wisely and other initiatives across Asia.BMJ open quality · 2026Review
- Development and Validation of a Culturally Adapted Patient-Reported Experience Measure for Diabetes Care in Thailand: Mixed-Methods Study.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026Article
- Assessing Knowledge and Practices Towards Routine Medical Checkups Among Medical Students of Karachi: A Cross-Sectional Study.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Predictors of health literacy among older adults with hypertension in Bali, Indonesia: A cross-sectional study.Belitung nursing journal · 2026Article
- Multidimensional Informational Needs and Associated Factors Among Indonesian Women with Breast Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of women's health · 2026Article
- Opportunities for Shared Decision-Making in the Management of Acute Pain in Asia-Pacific Countries.Cureus · 2025Article
- Exploration of doctor-patient communication characteristics and optimization path for gastrointestinal surgery of acute abdomen.World journal of gastrointestinal surgery · 2025Article
- Clinicians' lived experience of concealing bad news: a qualitative study in Malaysia and the UK.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Examining the relations between psychosocial and caregiving factors with mental health among Vietnamese family caregivers of hospitalized lung cancer patients.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The Complexity of an Agreement: A Cross-Cultural Perspective on 'Yes, Doctor' Communication with Patients.Asian bioethics review · 2025Article
- Brain tumor patients' rights and the power of patient advocacy: The current international landscape.Neuro-oncology practice · 2025Review
27 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Studies of doctor-patient communication generally advocate a partnership communication style. However, in Southeast Asian settings, we often see a more one-way style with little input from the patient. We investigated factors underlying the use of a one-way consultation style by doctors in a Southeast Asian setting. We conducted a qualitative study based on principles of grounded theory. Twenty residents and specialists and 20 patients of a low or high educational level were interviewed in internal medicine outpatient clinics of an Indonesian teaching hospital and two affiliated hospitals. During 26 weeks we engaged in an iterative interview and coding process to identify emergent factors. Patients were generally dissatisfied with doctors' communication style. The doctors indicated that they did not deliberately use a one-way style. Communication style appeared to be associated with characteristics of Southeast Asian culture, the health care setting and medical education. Doctor-patient communication appeared to be affected by cultural characteristics which fell into two broad categories representing key features of Southeast Asian culture, "social distance" and "closeness of relationships", and to characteristics categorized as "specific clinical context". Consideration of these characteristics could be helpful in promoting the use of a partnership communication style.
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