Dentists' verbal communication leads during an interview with geriatric patients

A reliable method has been developed to describe dentists' verbal communication leads using closed circuit television. The purpose of this investigation was to compare these leads during the greeting and initial discussion portion of an initial dental interview for ten dentists with 20 patients older than 65 years. Leads were categorized as controlling, noncontrolling, or neutral. A controlling lead was defined as a lead that allowed the dentist to exert authority in a controlling manner. The most frequently used leads in this category were closed-ended questions and structuring. Leads were categorized as noncontrolling if the lead allowed patients to express themselves (acceptance, approval, clarification, interpretation, and open-ended question). Examples of frequently observed neutral leads included small talk and information giving. The frequency of noncontrolling, neutral, and controlling leads was 28%, 40%, and 32%, respectively. Correlations between these three categories were weak and indicated that they were measuring different qualities of the communication process. When the three categories of leads were analyzed by doctors and patients' gender, the mean numbers of leads were similar, although male dentists tended to be more controlling with male patients and less controlling with female patients. These differences were not statistically significant using the analysis of variance.