A Thematic Analysis of the Medical Practitioners ’Reaction towards Patients’ Explanation in Notifying their Health Condition in Malaysia3

Abstract

Effective interpersonal communication between patients and the medical practitioners has always been the medium for information exchange between both parties. This qualitative research is conducted to determine how the medical practitioners react to the patients' complaints in any given medical interaction settings. The data for the entire research were obtained through indepth interviews, conducted with six informants. The purposive sampling method was utilized to determine the appropriate informants to be chosen with the traits of a psychiatric patient diagnosed with any psychiatric complication. The data were analysed by deriving themes from the in-depth interviews using thematic analysis method. The data acquired from the informants have contributed to a few themes which have indicated the medical practitioners' reaction to the patients' complaints. Based on the findings, the researcher has concluded that the medical practitioners involved in treating the informants were not responsive enough to the patients' complaint.