Could patients' coughing have communicative significance?
1Research Department of Primary Care and Population Health, University College London, London, UK. julia.bailey@ucl.ac.uk
Communication & Medicine
|September 9, 2009
Summary
Patients
Area of Science:
- Sociolinguistics
- Medical Communication
- Qualitative Research
Background:
- Medical discourse often negatively frames patients with minor respiratory illnesses like coughs and colds.
- Patients face a dilemma when seeking medical attention, needing to prove their illness's severity without appearing hypochondriacal.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the communicative significance of coughing in doctor-patient consultations for coughs and colds.
- To analyze how coughing functions beyond a mere symptom, serving a role in patient-doctor interactions.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative analysis of 33 video-recorded doctor-patient consultations.
- Utilizing a constructionist, sociolinguistic analytic approach to examine patient-doctor talk.
Main Results:
- Coughing is not random but coordinated with speech, demonstrating symptom severity and legitimizing medical claims.
- Coughing can signal resistance to a 'no problem' diagnosis, prompting further doctor explanation or treatment renegotiation.
Conclusions:
- Coughing in consultations for coughs and colds has significant communicative functions.
- Patients strategically use coughing to influence medical assessments and manage interactional face in consultations.
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