Physician-Patient Communication: Agreement between Them

Abstract

15 patients with chronic anxiety completed a questionnaire before and after therapy and the physician independently completed the questionnaire on each patient. The responses of patients and physician for each patient and question were compared by examining means, a concordance matrix, and Cohen's weighted kappa. It was concluded that agreement is greatest: (1) after therapy, (2) when relative change during therapy is greater, (3) when the average level of symptomatology expressed by the patient is nil or severe. Examination of means alone or individual questions permitted no conclusions.