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.