Communicating fatigue in general practice and the role of gender

Abstract

The aim of this study has been to obtain more insight into the health condition of fatigued patients, their expectations when visiting the general practitioner (GP), the way they communicate, and possible gender differences. Data consisted of 579 patient questionnaires and 440 video-observations of these patients and 31 GPs. Results showed that fatigue is a common health problem but seldom on the agenda in general practice. More women indicated symptoms of fatigue than men did. Fatigued patients' health was worse than that of non-fatigued patients, and they expected more biomedical and especially psychosocial communication. Furthermore, male fatigued patients expected more biomedical communication than fatigued female patients did. While the GPs accommodated their verbal behavior to fatigued patients by giving more psychosocial information and more counseling, they were not more affective towards the fatigued than towards the non-fatigued patients. Female GPs were more affective than their male colleagues, and they used gender-specific communication strategies to explore the patient's agenda. It seems necessary to use a gender-sensitive approach in communication research. #

Does gender have an influence on the patient-physician communication?

“…It is not astonishing that female patients initiate discussion about depression with their physician more than men, and doctors are inclined to ask more male patients about this issue than women [20]. In another study male fatigued patients expected more biomedical communication than fatigued female patients did [21].…”

Attention to gender in communication skills assessment instruments in medical education: a review

“…Research shows that the communication and content of the medical encounter can differ depending on the gender(s) of the doctor and patient. For example, female doctors make more positive statements, ask for more information and tend to communicate higher degrees of empathy than male doctors 9–12 . The importance of empathy in the doctor–patient relationship is widely accepted.…”

Fatigue – concepts for physiotherapy management and measurement

“…It is estimated that 10-60% of people in the general population have fatigue. [8][9][10][11] David et al 8 reported that 10.2% of men and 10.6% of women had substantial fatigue for 1 month or more. This fatigue prevalence is lower than that reported by Pawlikowska et al: 9 from a questionnaire distributed to 15,283 people, it was concluded that 38% of the respondents had fatigue, with 18.3% reporting substantial fatigue of greater than 6 months' duration.…”

“…Of the working population in the Maastricht Cohort Study, 10 21.9% reported prolonged fatigue, with a mean duration of 22 months. Without reference to the duration of fatigue, Meeuwesen et al 11 reported that 60% of the population surveyed reported fatigue in the previous 2 weeks.…”

“…Women report fatigue more frequently than men. 9,11 In a qualitative review of experiences of people with fatigue, the data gathered were analysed and structured into nine categories, listed in Table 2. 12 Evidently, fatigue is prevalent in the general population, and is seen both in communities attending a 316 O'CONNELL AND STOKES general practitioner and in the working population.…”