Can words hurt? Patient-provider interactions during invasive procedures

Area of Science:

• Medical Communication
• Patient Experience
• Radiology Procedures

Background:

• Healthcare providers often describe procedural pain to patients, believing it to be compassionate.
• Limited data exists on the actual impact of such communication on patient outcomes.
• This study investigates the effect of pre-procedural warnings and post-procedural sympathy on patient pain and anxiety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effect of healthcare provider communication on patient pain and anxiety during interventional radiological procedures.
• To determine if warning patients about pain or undesirable experiences influences their reported pain and anxiety.
• To evaluate if expressing sympathy after a painful event affects patient-reported outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 159 videotaped patient-provider interactions from a randomized trial.
• Identification and recording of statements warning of pain or expressing sympathy.
• Correlation of these statements with patient-reported pain and anxiety scores (0-10 scale).

Main Results:

• Warning patients about pain or undesirable experiences led to significantly greater reported pain (P<0.05) and anxiety (P<0.001).
• Expressing sympathy after a painful event did not increase reported pain but significantly increased anxiety (P<0.05).
• Findings contradict the common belief that such communication is beneficial.

Conclusions:

• Communicating negative experiences to patients may inadvertently increase their distress.
• Medical communication training should reconsider the use of pain-focused language.
• Further research is needed to explore effective patient-provider communication strategies.