The doctor-patient relationship and HIV-infected patients' satisfaction with primary care physicians.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the extent to which perceptions of specific aspects of the doctor-patient relationship are related to overall satisfaction with primary care physicians among HIV-infected patients.
DESIGN: Longitudinal, observational study of HIV-infected persons new to primary HIV care. Data were collected at enrollment and approximately 6 months later by in-person interview.
SETTING: Two urban medical centers in the northeastern United States. PARTICIPANTS: Patients seeking primary HIV care for the first time.
MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The primary outcome measure was patient-reported satisfaction with a primary care physician measured 6 months after initiating primary HIV care. Patients who were more comfortable discussing personal issues with their physicians (P =. 021), who perceived their primary care physicians as more empathetic (P =.001), and who perceived their primary care physicians as more knowledgeable with respect to HIV (P =.002) were significantly more satisfied with their primary care physicians, adjusted for characteristics of the patient and characteristics of primary care. Collectively, specific aspects of the doctor-patient relationship explained 56% of the variation in overall satisfaction with the primary care physician.
CONCLUSIONS: Patients' perceptions of their primary care physician's HIV knowledge and empathy were highly related to their satisfaction with this physician. Satisfaction among HIV-infected patients was not associated with patients' sociodemographic characteristics, HIV risk characteristics, alcohol and drug use, health status, quality of life, or concordant patient-physician gender and racial matching.