Communicating fatigue in general practice and the role of gender

• Published in: Patient education and counseling Vol. 48; no. 3; pp. 233 - 242
• Main Authors: Meeuwesen, Ludwien, Bensing, Jozien, van den Brink-Muinen, Atie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier Ireland Ltd 01.12.2002
• Subjects: Adult; Affect; Attitude of Health Personnel; Attitude to Health; Case-Control Studies; Communication; Doctor–patient communication; Family Practice; Fatigue - psychology; Female; Gender communication; General practice; Health perception; Health Status; Humans; Male; Men - psychology; Middle Aged; Netherlands; Nursing; Patient expectations; Physician-Patient Relations; Physicians, Family - psychology; Physicians, Women - psychology; Referral and Consultation; Sex; Surveys and Questionnaires; Symptoms of fatigue; Verbal Behavior; Women - psychology; Netherlands; Doctor–patient communication; General practice; Health perception; Patient expectations; Symptoms of fatigue; Gender communication
• ISSN: 0738-3991; 1873-5134
• DOI: 10.1016/S0738-3991(02)00176-3

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.