Patient-Centered Beliefs Among Patients and Providers in Kazakhstan

Health services in Kazakhstan have undergone radical reforms since its independence in 1991, but levels of dissatisfaction among patients remain high. We investigated whether healthcare providers and patients at one hospital in Astana, Kazakhstan, believe the doctor-patient interaction should be doctor-centered vs patient-centered.

We conducted a cross-sectional study of the responses to various surveys of 200 patients (response rate, 74%) and 201 healthcare providers (response rate, 86%) in a general hospital in Astana, Kazakhstan. The participants completed a questionnaire containing the Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS) and scales assessing life and job satisfaction, job effort-job reward balance, and patient evaluation of communication. Analyses were restricted to those with valid data on the variables age, sex, and PPOS (147 providers and 150 patients).

An overwhelming majority of doctors (80%), nurses (87%), and patients (93%) were doctor-oriented. Among patients, higher patient-oriented scores were statistically significantly associated with higher satisfaction with communication with healthcare providers (P=0.038) and with life satisfaction (P=0.009).

Only a small percentage of doctors, nurses, and patients reported that their interaction should be patient-centered. This congruence between providers and patients does not explain dissatisfaction, but the finding that patient-centered patients were more satisfied suggests an area for improvement.