Practice of Breaking Bad News among Registered Medical Practitioners of Tertiary Hospitals in Manipur: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Context: Treatment adherence, better health outcomes, and patients’ satisfaction depend on the way the treating physician breaks bad news. There is limited training during medical school as well as limited data on the practice of breaking bad news among registered medical practitioners in Manipur. Aims: 1. To assess the practice of breaking bad news among registered medical practitioners. 2. To assess the association between sociodemographic characteristics and the practice of breaking bad news of the registered medical practitioners of tertiary hospitals in Manipur. Setting and Design: A cross-sectional study among 439 registered medical practitioners (RMPs) of the four tertiary hospitals of Manipur was conducted from January 16th to February 10th, 2023. Materials and Methods: Data collection was done by using a structured questionnaire which had a section on the practice of breaking bad news (BBN) toward the patients by using SPIKES protocol and was measured by using a five-point Likert scale. Statistical Analysis: Statistical analysis: Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS V 26. Descriptive statistics, like median, frequency, and percentage, were used to summarize data. The Chi-square test was used and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The majority of the participants (60%) were males. Forty-seven percent of the participants were fully practicing all the components of the BBN protocol. There was a significant association between older registered medical practitioners (P = 0.002), more years of service (P = 0.001), and higher educational qualification (P = 0.027) with the full practice of BBN protocol. Conclusion: Almost half of the participants were partially practicing all steps of the BBN protocol.