How often does the letter r occur in:
(Salt Lake City) - When your doctor asks how often you exercise, do you give her an honest answer? How about when she asks what youve been eating lately? If youve ever stretched the truth, youre not alone.
60 to 80 percent of people surveyed have not been forthcoming with their doctors about information that could be relevant to their health, according to a new study. Besides fibbing about diet and exercise, more than a third of respondents didnt speak up when they disagreed with their doctors recommendation. Another common scenario was failing to admit they didnt understand their clinicians instructions.
When respondents explained why they werent transparent, most said that they wanted to avoid being judged, and didnt want to be lectured about how bad certain behaviors were. More than half were simply too embarrassed to tell the truth.
Most people want their doctor to think highly of them, says the studys senior author Angela Fagerlin, Ph.D., chair of population health sciences at U of U Health and a research scientist with the VA Salt Lake City Health Systems Informatics Decision-Enhancement and Analytic Sciences (IDEAS) Center for Innovation.
Theyre worried about being pigeonholed as someone who doesnt make good decisions, she adds.
Im surprised that such a substantial number of people chose to withhold relatively benign information, and that they would admit to it, says the studys first author Andrea Gurmankin Levy, Ph.D., MBe, an associate professor in social sciences at Middlesex Community College in Middletown, Connecticut. We also have to consider the interesting limitation that survey participants might have withheld information about what they withheld, which would mean that our study has underestimated how prevalent this phenomenon is.
The trouble with a patients dishonesty is that doctors cant offer accurate medical advice when they dont have all the facts.
If patients are withholding information about what theyre eating, or whether they are taking their medication, it can have significant implications for their health. Especially if they have a chronic illness, says Levy.
Understanding the issue more in-depth could point toward ways to fix the problem. Levy and Fagerlin hope to repeat the study and talk with patients immediately after clinical appointments, while the experience is still fresh in their minds. Person-to-person interviews could help identify other factors that influence clinician-patient interactions. For instance, are patients more open with doctors theyve known for years?
The possibility suggests that patients may not be the only ones to blame, says Fagerlin. How providers are communicating in certain situations may cause patients to be hesitant to open up, she says. This raises the question, is there a way to train clinicians to help their patients feel more comfortable? After all, a healthy conversation is a two-way street.
Prevalence of and Factors Associated with Patient Nondisclosure of Medically Relevant Information to Clinicians publishes online in JAMA Network Open on Nov. 13, 2018.

user
I counted one hundred and thirty-three "r"s in that text.
assistant