Survey: Most patients want to shake hands with
their Physicians
Newswise — Most patients
want physicians to shake their hands when they
first meet, and about half want their first
names used in greetings, according to a report
in the June 11 issue of Archives of Internal
Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
"The first few moments of a
medical encounter are critical to establishing
rapport, making the patient feel comfortable and
setting the tone of the interview," the authors
write as background information in the article.
Gregory Makoul, Ph.D., and
colleagues at Northwestern University Feinberg
School of Medicine, Chicago, surveyed 415 adults
in the United States between 2004 and 2005
regarding patient expectations and preferences
for greetings by physicians. The authors also
analyzed videotapes of 123 new patient visits in
the offices of 19 different physicians in
Chicago and Burlington, Vt.
The survey found that,
among patients:
78.1 percent wanted
physicians to shake their hands, while 18.1
percent did not
50.4 percent wanted their first names used
during greetings, 17.3 percent preferred their
last name and 23.6 percent favored the physician
using both first and last names, 56.4 percent
wanted physicians to introduce themselves using
first and last names, 32.5 percent expected
physicians to use their last name, and 7.2
percent would like physicians to use their first
name only.
In the videotaped encounters, physicians and
patients shook hands 82.9 percent of the time.
In 62 (50.4 percent) of the visits, physicians
did not mention patients' names at all, and in
48 (39 percent) of the cases patients' names
were not mentioned by physicians or patients.
Physicians used their first and last names when
introducing themselves 58.5 percent of the time,
and did not introduce themselves at all in 14
visits (11.4 percent).
"Physicians should be
encouraged to shake hands with patients but
remain sensitive to nonverbal cues that might
indicate whether patients are open to this
behavior," the authors conclude. "Given the
diversity of opinion regarding the use of names,
coupled with national patient safety
recommendations concerning patient
identification, we suggest that physicians
initially use patients' first and last names and
introduce themselves using their own first and
last names."
(Arch Intern Med.
2007;167:1172-1176. Available pre-embargo to the
media at www.jamamedia.org.)
Editor's Note: This study
was supported in part by the American Board of
Medical Specialties Research and Education
Foundation. Please see the article for
additional information, including other authors,
author contributions and affiliations, financial
disclosures, funding and support, etc.
