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Amardeep Thind, MD, PhD; Allison Diamant, MD; Yihang Liu, MD, MS, MA; Rose Maly, MD, MSPH

Arch Surg. 2009;144(11):1068-1073.

Objective  To analyze the relationship between patient satisfaction with surgical treatment and 4 consultation skills and processes of the surgeons (time spent, listens carefully, explains concepts in a way the patient can understand, and shows respect for what the patient has to say), controlling for a range of patient, surgeon, and treatment characteristics.

Design  Cross-sectional survey.

Setting  The Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program for the state of California.

Patients  A statewide sample of 789 low-income women who received treatment for breast cancer from February 1, 2003, through September 31, 2005.

Main Outcome Measure  Satisfaction with surgical treatment.

Results  Three of every 4 women reported being extremely satisfied with the treatment they received from their surgeon. African American women and those with arm swelling were less likely to be satisfied, whereas those reporting that the surgeon always spent enough time and explained concepts in a way they could understand were more likely to report greater satisfaction.

Conclusion  Our findings highlight the importance of 2 relatively simple behaviors that surgeons can easily implement to increase patient satisfaction, which can be of potential benefit in the litigious world of today.

Author Affiliations: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Center for Studies in Family Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada (Dr Thind); and Departments of General Internal Medicine (Dr Diamant) and Family Medicine (Drs Liu and Maly), David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles.

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