Relational communication, satisfaction, compliance-gaining strategies, and compliance in communication between physicians and patients

Six themes of physicians’ relational communication were hypothesized to predict patients’ satisfaction and compliance, to relate to strategies used by physicians to gain compliance, and to relate to frequency of physician-patient contact. Telephone interviews with 234 adults who had seen a primary care physician within the previous six months confirmed that perceived relational communication was strongly related to affective, cognitive, and behavioral satisfaction. More expressions of receptivity, immediacy, composure, similarity, and formality and less dominance by the physician were associated with greater patient satisfaction. Only perceived similarity related to patient-reported compliance. Several relational message themes were associated with physicians’ use of 17 verbal compliance-gaining strategies. More prior contact also was associated with more perceived use of immediacy and receptivity messages by the physician and with more satisfaction. Finally, satisfaction was modestly correlated with compliance.