The effect of the patient-physician relationship on health-related quality of life after cardiac rehabilitation

Purpose The patient-physician relationship has effects on adherence and health outcomes in chronic diseases. This prospective study investigates the effect of the patient-physician relationship on patients' health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in the context of cardiac rehabilitation. Methods Three hundred and thirty-eight German patients filled out questionnaires at the start and end of rehabilitation and at 6 months follow-up. Patient-physician relationship variables surveyed were patient involvement (perceived involvement in care scales), trust in the physician, patient satisfaction (PHYSAT) and physician's communicative behaviour (KOVA). After adjusting for multiple confounders, hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to predict the influence of the patient-physician relationship on HRQOL after rehabilitation. We further examined clinical relevance using minimal clinically important differences (MCID). Results In the hierarchical regression analyses, 42.8-54.9% of the variance at the end of rehabilitation and 22.4-40.5% at follow-up were explained. The patient-physician variables patient satisfaction, physician's emotionally supportive communication and effective and open communication accounted for 1.4-2.6% of the variance and proved statistically and clinically significant for HRQOL change. Further predictors for better HRQOL were higher income and less trait anger. Conclusion Aspects of the patient-physician relationship are significant predictors for patients' HRQOL after rehabilitation. Rehabilitation physicians should emotionally support the patients and communicate in an effective and open manner to enhance HRQOL.