Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 7, 2026
Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Hyperscanning Study in Psychological Counseling
Published on: January 17, 2025
When language heals: Evaluating patient-centered communication in Chinese telemedicine through communication
Fan Wang1, Junfang Wang2, Hailin Hu2
1Foreign Languages College, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, P.R. China.
Objective:
To examine how Chinese doctors linguistically adapt to patients during online medical consultations using Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT), and how such strategies vary across clinical contexts.
Methods:
We analyze N = 200 text-based doctor-patient consultations sampled from the MedDialog-CN dataset-the largest public corpus of Chinese online medical consultations. Dialogues were coded using CAT's five strategic categories: approximation, interpretability, discourse management, interpersonal control, and emotional expression. Each category was further divided into specific tactics through grounded theory. Quantitative frequency analysis and qualitative thematic analysis were employed to assess doctors' communication patterns and associated patient responses.
Results:
Across 200 consultations, doctors predominantly relied on maintenance (74.5%) within approximation, indicating limited linguistic adaptability. Responsiveness (58%) and clarification (30.5%) were common, while simplification (10%) and empathy (16%) remained underutilized. When further categorized along the acute-chronic axis (acute = 110; chronic = 90), acute consultations displayed a directive-and-clarifying profile-higher convergence, topic initiation, assertiveness, and situational empathy-whereas chronic consultations showed more continuity-oriented patterns emphasizing maintenance, topic shifting, and support offers. These contrasts highlight how accommodation varies with the immediacy and continuity demands of different medical conditions.
Conclusions:
The findings reveal overreliance on stable, professionalized talk and underuse of adaptive, empathetic strategies, signaling a gap between current practice and patient-centered ideals. Incorporating CAT-based communication training could enhance linguistic flexibility, interpretive clarity, and emotional engagement in Chinese telemedicine, fostering clearer, more compassionate, and culturally attuned digital healthcare.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:21Barriers to Effective Communication II
Cultural barriers:
Differences in values, beliefs, religion, knowledge, and tradition can significantly impact communication. Awareness of nonverbal cues is critical, especially when conversing with a patient from a different culture. What appears appropriate in one culture may be inappropriate in another.
Semantic barriers:
As a result of their tendency to use...
01:30Therapeutic Communication
Verbal communication depends on language or a prescribed way of using words so that people can share information effectively. The critical aspects of verbal...
01:15Techniques of therapeutic communication I: Active Listening, Sharing Observations, Validation, and Using Touch
Therapeutic communication is not the same as social interaction. Social interaction has no goal or purpose and consists of casual information sharing, whereas therapeutic communication has a plan or purpose for the conversation. Therapeutic...
01:28Communication
01:23Techniques of Therapeutic Communication II: Focusing, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
This therapeutic technique can also be used when a patient brings up pertinent information during a health-related conversation. The...
01:30Barriers to Effective Communication I
Communication barriers include the following:
Physiological barriers: They are limitations caused by a person's health condition or disability, such as hearing loss, poor eyesight, illness, or unconsciousness. An example to overcome this...