Does Depressive Symptomatology Influence Teenage Patients and Their Mothers’ Experience of Doctor-Patient Relationship in Two Balkan Countries?

Abstract

Doctor-patient relationship is considered to be a special relationship and a keystone of medical care. A fundamental factor in this sort of relationship is the communication, which is strictly examined between the two involving parts, without taking into consideration in the case of children and teenagers the possible influence of their parents. The mothers more often accompany their children to the doctor and they become a third part of the doctor-patient relationship. In Greece during February-May 2013, 196 mothers and their teenage children (suffering from acute or chronic illnesses) completed two questionnaires: the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) and a series of questions on a Likert scale from the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ) about the experienced satisfaction with the characteristics of this communication. In Bulgaria during July-August 2013, 60 mothers and their children completed the same questionnaires. The results revealed an unexpected finding only for the Greek sample - the quality of relationship between doctor and patient (for both Greek mothers and adolescents) was negatively associated with their scores on CES-D (i.e. low level of depression together with low satisfaction derived from the relationship with the doctor), while no differences were found between the participants’ groups (mothers, children, acute or chronic disease). This surprising finding of high depression-high satisfaction was not found in the Bulgarian sample and therefore needs further investigation.