The association of health literacy, social support, self-efficacy and interpersonal interactions with health care providers in low-income Latina mothers.

Objective: We explored relationships between maternal health literacy (HL), communicative self-efficacy (SE), social support (SS) and maternal perception of interactions with health care providers (HCPs).

Methods: Using a cross-sectional, correlational design, we assessed sociodemographic characteristics, maternal HL, social support, communicative self-efficacy, and interpersonal interactions with HCPs among 124 low-income Latina mothers of young children.

Results: Informal SS significantly predicted maternal SE in interactions.

Depression treatment enhances adherence to antiretroviral therapy: a meta-analysis.

Background: Depression is a risk factor for nonadherence to HIV/AIDS treatment.

Purpose: A meta-analysis was conducted to examine whether treatment of depression and psychological distress improves antiretroviral therapy adherence.

Methods: PubMed and PsycINFO databases were systematically searched for relevant articles.

Importance of family/social support and impact on adherence to diabetic therapy.

Diabetes mellitus affects 24 million individuals in the US. In order to manage their diabetes successfully, patients must adhere to treatment regimens that include dietary restrictions, physical activity goals, and self-monitoring of glucose levels. Numerous factors affect patients' ability to adhere properly, eg, self-efficacy, treatment expectations, health beliefs, and lack of social support.

Health literacy and interpersonal interactions as predictors of maternal perception of ambulatory care for low-income, Latino children.

Objective: This study explores whether maternal HL (MHL) and maternal perception of health care provider (HCP) interpersonal interactions predict maternal perception of quality of pediatric ambulatory care received.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 124 low-income Latina mothers of children 3 months to 4 years. Maternal HL, perception of maternal-HCP interpersonal interactions, and perception of pediatric ambulatory care were measured using well-validated surveys.

Serious psychological distress and diabetes care among California adults.

Objective: To evaluate three aspects of diabetes care (foot checks, eye examinations, and hemoglobin A 1 C checks by a physician) among California adults with Type 2 diabetes and serious psychological distress (SPD).

Method: Data were from the population-based 2005 California Health Interview Survey. Estimates were that in 2005, 1,516,171 Californians (5.

Adherence to mammography and colorectal cancer screening in women 50-80 years of age the role of psychological distress.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of women's attitudes and health beliefs regarding breast and colorectal cancer screening practices.

Methods: Nine hundred five women, 50 to 80 years of age, were recruited from 63 randomly selected physician offices within the greater Los Angeles area. The Health Belief Model was used to evaluate potential predictor variables associated with patients' breast and colorectal cancer screening practices.

Development and validation of the Physician-Patient Humor Rating Scale.

The purpose of this study was the development of a rating instrument to assess the use of humor in physician- patient interactions, and to compare humor use as a function of patients' socioeconomic status. The 46-item Physician-Patient Humor Rating Scale (PPHRS) was used to rate 246 audiotaped primary care interactions. Four subscales were reliable and valid, demonstrating correlations with patient satisfaction and reports of physician humor, with physician satisfaction and with separate affective communication ratings.

Physician communication and patient adherence to treatment: a meta-analysis.

Background: Numerous empirical studies from various populations and settings link patient treatment adherence to physician-patient communication. Meta-analysis allows estimates of the overall effects both in correlational research and in experimental interventions involving the training of physicians' communication skills.

Objectives: Calculation and analysis of "r effect sizes" and moderators of the relationship between physician's communication and patient adherence, and the effects of communication training on adherence to treatment regimens for varying medical conditions.

Affective and instrumental communication in primary care interactions: predicting the satisfaction of nursing staff and patients.

Verbal and nonverbal communication between nursing staff and patients has received scant research attention. This study examined patients' and nursing staff members' global affective and instrumental communication, mutual influence, and relationship to postvisit satisfaction. This study employed ratings of videotaped primary care visits of 81 nursing staff members with 235 patients, and assessed communication in 2 channels: nonverbal visual and speech including vocal tone.

Self-report adherence measures in chronic illness: retest reliability and predictive validity.

Background: Patient self-report is a practical method for measuring adherence, but little is known about its optimal use.

Objectives: To examine the retest reliability and predictive validity of 3 different types of self-report adherence measures among patients with common chronic illnesses.

Research Design: Correlation and regression analyses of data from an ongoing randomized controlled trial.

Mental health, binge drinking, and antihypertension medication adherence.

Objectives: To evaluate the relationship between self-reported mental health and binge drinking, as well as health status, sociodemographic, social support, economic resource, and health care access indicators to antihypertension medication adherence.

Method: Analysis of 2003 California Health Interview Survey data.

Results: Having poor mental health days predicted medication nonadherence, whereas binge drinking did not.

Physician and patient communication training in primary care: effects on participation and satisfaction.

Objective: To assess the effects of a communication skills training program for physicians and patients.

Design: A randomized experiment to improve physician communication skills was assessed 1 and 6 months after a training intervention; patient training to be active participants was assessed after 1 month. Across three primary medical care settings, 156 physicians treating 2,196 patients were randomly assigned to control group or one of three conditions (physician, patient, or both trained).

Binge drinking, poor mental health, and adherence to treatment among California adults with asthma.

Binge drinking and poor mental health may affect adherence to treatment for individuals with asthma. The purposes were to (a) examine the relationship of self-reported binge drinking and mental health to adherence to daily asthma control medications and (b) identify other demographic and health-related factors associated with asthma control medication adherence. Secondary analyses of 2003 adult California Health Interview Survey data were undertaken, and these analyses identified 3.

The challenge of patient adherence.

Quality healthcare outcomes depend upon patients' adherence to recommended treatment regimens. Patient nonadherence can be a pervasive threat to health and wellbeing and carry an appreciable economic burden as well. In some disease conditions, more than 40% of patients sustain significant risks by misunderstanding, forgetting, or ignoring healthcare advice.

The therapeutic effects of the physician-older patient relationship: effective communication with vulnerable older patients.

There is growing evidence that the outcomes of health care for seniors are dependent not only upon patients' physical health status and the administration of care for their biomedical needs, but also upon care for patients' psychosocial needs and attention to their social, economic, cultural, and psychological vulnerabilities. Even when older patients have appropriate access to medical services, they also need effective and empathic communication as an essential part of their treatment. Older patients who are socially isolated, emotionally vulnerable, and economically disadvantaged are particularly in need of the social, emotional, and practical support that sensitive provider-patient communication can provide.

Health beliefs, disease severity, and patient adherence: a meta-analysis.

Background: A large body of empirical data exists on the prediction of patient adherence from subjective and objective assessments of health status and disease severity. This work can be summarized with meta-analysis.

Objectives: Retrieval and summary analysis of r effect sizes and moderators of the relationship between patient adherence and patients': (1) beliefs in disease threat; (2) rated health status (by physician, self, or parent); and (3) objective disease severity.

Preferences for medical collaboration: patient-physician congruence and patient outcomes.

Patient participation in medical care and in decision-making is generally viewed as a precursor to positive health outcomes. Patient participation is not always possible or desirable, however, and not all patients want to take an active part in their own medical care. This study examines the degree to which physician-patient congruence in preference for patient involvement is related to self-reported satisfaction, adherence, and health.

The role of effective communication with children and their families in fostering adherence to pediatric regimens.

Adherence to pediatric health enhancement, disease prevention, and medical treatment, particularly for chronic disease, can be challenging because of demanding regimens, children's progressing developmental stages, and varying family perspectives and relationships. This review examines adherence in the context of communication among providers, pediatric patients, and their families. The focus is on: the delivery of prevention and treatment information; trust in the therapeutic relationship; beliefs and attitudes in shaping acceptance of health care messages; social and cultural norms; building patient and family commitment to behavior change; family habits; barriers and pressures faced by patients and their families; the role of social networks and social support in fostering adherence, and the effects of family cohesiveness and family conflict.

Variations in patients' adherence to medical recommendations: a quantitative review of 50 years of research.

Background: The literature on patient adherence to treatment includes hundreds of empirical studies. A comprehensive examination of the findings requires the organization and quantification that is possible with meta-analysis.

Objectives: The goals of this research are retrieval, compilation, and averaging of adherence rates in all published empirical studies from 1948 to 1998; assessment of variation according to sample characteristics, time period of publication, measurement method, disease, and regimen; and examination of the effects on adherence of patient demographic characteristics.

Social support and patient adherence to medical treatment: a meta-analysis.

In a review of the literature from 1948 to 2001, 122 studies were found that correlated structural or functional social support with patient adherence to medical regimens. Meta-analyses establish significant average r-effect sizes between adherence and practical, emotional, and unidimensional social support; family cohesiveness and conflict; marital status; and living arrangement of adults. Substantive and methodological variables moderate these effects.

Physician facilitation of patient involvement in care: correspondence between patient and observer reports.

The authors surveyed 128 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (1) to evaluate the congruence between patients' and observers' perceptions of physicians' facilitation of patients' involvement in care and (2) to identify which physician behaviors were most closely related to patients' perceptions that their doctors encouraged them to be involved in their care. The patients reported the degree to which they perceived that their physicians encouraged their involvement in the medical care process. Raters blind to the study hypotheses coded audiotapes of the physician-patient interactions.

Correspondence among patients' self-reports, chart records, and audio/videotapes of medical visits.

This pilot study examined the covariation of patients' self-reports of instrumental and affective aspects of communication during physician-patient visits with 2 other sources of data: medical chart records and audio/videotapes. Participants were 17 community-based (nonuniversity) primary-care physicians and 77 of their patients, ages 50 to 80. Patients were interviewed by telephone within 1 week after their medical visits.