RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Visiting family physicians and naturopathic practitioners. Comparing patient-practitioner interactions.
JF Canadian Family Physician
JO Can Fam Physician
FD The College of Family Physicians of Canada
SP 1481
OP 1487
VO 49
IS 11
A1 Heather Boon
A1 Moira Stewart
A1 Mary Ann Kennard
A1 Jessica Guimond
YR 2003
UL http://www.cfp.ca/content/49/11/1481.abstract
AB OBJECTIVE To explore similarities and differences in patient visits with family physicians (FPs) and naturopathic practitioners (NPs). DESIGN Exploratory study combining quantitative and qualitative methods. SETTING Southern Ontario. PARTICIPANTS A purposeful sample of 10 practitioners (five FPs and five NPs matched for age, sex, and number of years in practice): each agreed to recruit three consecutive patients with new complaints to participate in the study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Patient and visit characteristics; qualitative (content analysis of audiotaped interactions) and quantitative (ie, patient-centred care scores) information was gathered and analyzed. RESULTS Qualitative analysis revealed that information gathering and treatment planning were very similar whether patients were visiting FPs or NPs. Most important differences were length of interaction (mean 54 minutes for NPs and 16.5 minutes for FPs) and patients' reasons for visits. Naturopathic practitioners were more likely to recommend medications (usually natural health products) than FPs. Quantitative data suggested that patients perceived no differences in patient-centred care from FPs and NPs. CONCLUSION Overall, there were more similarities than differences in visits to the two types of practitioners.