Communication at an online infertility expert forum: provider responses to patients’ emotional and informational cues

Abstract

Online patient-provider communication has become increasingly popular in fertility care. However, it is not known to what extent patients express cues or concerns and how providers respond. In this study, we investigated cues and responses that occur in online patient-provider communication at an infertility-specific expert forum. We extracted 106 threads from the multidisciplinary expert forum of two Dutch IVF clinics. We performed the following analyses: (1) thematic analysis of patients' questions; and (2) rating patients' emotional and informational cues and subsequent professionals' responses using an adaptation of the validated Medical Interview Aural Rating Scale. Frequencies of themes, frequencies of cues and responses, and sequences (what cue is followed by what response) were extracted. Sixty-five infertile patients and 19 providers participated. The most common themes included medication and lifestyle. Patients gave more informational than emotional cues (106 versus 64). Responses to informational cues were mostly adequate (61%). The most common response to emotional cues was empathic acknowledgment (72%). Results indicate that an online expert forum could have a positive effect on patient outcomes, which should guide future research. Offering infertile patients an expert forum to communicate with providers can be a promising supplement to usual care in both providing information and addressing patients' concerns.

The Effect of Screen-to-Screen Versus Face-to-Face Consultation on Doctor-Patient Communication: An Experimental Study with Simulated Patients

“…This suggests that simulated patients may expect more information exchange in Web-based consultations and more affective behavior or interpersonal relationship building in face-to-face consultations. The findings of this study suggest that patients especially have lower expectations of affective behavior in Web-based consultations, which is in line with previous studies [ 45 , 58 ]. Patients may see Web-based communication more as a way to share information than to build relationships with their doctor.…”

“…The sensitivity of this topic in particular warrants Web-based communication because of the reduced cues [ 66 ]. Furthermore, with gynecology being a leading field in developments of Web-based doctor-patient communication [ 58 , 67 , 68 ], choosing gynecology was preferable. However, it is necessary to investigate other health care problems as well, as the findings may be different depending on type and phase of the disease.…”

Anxiety and depression symptoms in infertile men during their first infertility evaluation visit

“…Several effective methods have been introduced to screen couples for emotional distress [18,[29][30][31]. Studies focusing on such methods report fundamental gender differences in dealing with fertility problems and underline the need for psychological support during infertility treatment [18,31,32]. In a recent study, a previous major depressive disorder predicted the appearance of depressive symptoms during treatment [33].…”