Investigating Patient Preferences for Their Doctor's Communication Strategies Across Cultures Using Communication Accommodation Theory

Effective doctor-patient communication has been linked to better patient outcomes and treatment adherence, whereas ineffective communication has been linked to poorer outcomes and more medical errors. Our study used Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) to investigate across four countries which communication strategies patients preferred from their doctors. Archival data from a larger online survey research study provided a sample of 1698 participants (Male = 36.4%, Female = 61.1%, Other 1.8%, Age M = 25.5 SD = 10.67), recruited from four countries (Australia, USA, Hong Kong/China, and the Philippines). Results showed participants preferred accommodative stances over non-accommodative stances (under or over accommodation), and that accommodative interpretability was the most frequently mentioned communication strategy in all four countries. Chi-square analyses revealed significant differences across countries for all strategies, with the strongest effects for discourse management. Implications for adding CAT into medical education communication training are discussed.