Type of Multimorbidity and Patient-Doctor Communication and Trust among Elderly Medicare Beneficiaries
Table 2
Weighted percentages of patient-physician communication and trust items: overall and by multimorbidity categories. Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, access to care module 2012.
Survey items
Strongly agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
No MM
MM-PI
MM-PI&MI
Sig.
Weighted percentages
Column weighted percentages
Patient-physician communication
() Your doctor tells you all you want to know about your condition and treatment.
38.9
56.8
3.9
0.4
97.5
95.8
93.3
() Your doctor often does not explain your medical problems to you.
1.5
6.3
65.6
26.6
6.5
7.5
11.0
() You often have health problems that should be discussed but are not.
0.5
5.9
68.1
25.5
4.1
6.1
11.6
() Your doctor often seems to be in a hurry.
2.1
10.4
62.6
24.9
8.0
13.0
15.4
() Your doctor often acts as though he was doing you a favor by talking to you.
0.5
3.5
59.2
36.8
3.1
3.8
5.6
() Your doctor answers all questions.
41.4
56.1
2.2
0.3
98.4
97.7
95.5
Patient-physician trust
() Your doctor is very careful to check everything when examining you.
46.7
48.7
4.2
0.4
97.4
95.4
92.9
() Your doctor is competent and well-trained.
51.6
47.5
0.7
0.2
99.3
99.1
99.0
() Your doctor has a good understanding of your medical history.
49.4
48.3
2.0
0.3
97.9
97.8
96.9
() Your doctor has a complete understanding of the things that are wrong with you.
45.1
51.5
3.1
0.3
97.2
96.8
94.8
() You have great confidence in your doctor.
46.7
49.9
2.9
0.5
97.8
96.7
94.8
Note. Column weighted percentages of beneficiaries by multimorbidity categories who agreed or strongly agreed with the survey item. Multimorbidity categories: (a) no MM: no multimorbidity; (b) MM-PI: two or more chronic physical conditions but no mental illness; and (c) MM-MI&PI: both chronic physical and mental conditions. Sig.: significance level from chi-square tests. . .
