Physician use of persuasion and colorectal cancer screening
Recommended Citation
Elston Lafata J, Wunderlich T, Flocke SA, Oja-Tebbe N, Dyer KE, Siminoff LA. Physician use of persuasion and colorectal cancer screening. Transl Behav Med 2015; 5(1):87-93.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-1-2015
Publication Title
Transl Behav Med
Abstract
The impact of patient-physician communication on subsequent patient behavior has rarely been evaluated in the context of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening discussions. We describe physicians' use of persuasive techniques when recommending CRC screening and evaluate its association with patients' subsequent adherence to screening. Audio recordings of N = 414 periodic health examinations were joined with screening use data from electronic medical records and pre-/post-visit patient surveys. The association between persuasion and screening was assessed using generalized estimating equations. According to observer ratings, primary care physicians frequently use persuasive techniques (63 %) when recommending CRC screening, most commonly argument or refutation. However, physician persuasion was not associated with subsequent screening adherence. Physician use of persuasion may be a common vehicle for information provision during CRC screening discussions; however, our results do not support the sole reliance on persuasive techniques if the goal is to improve adherence to recommended screening.
PubMed ID
25729457
Volume
5
Issue
1
First Page
87
Last Page
93
