Interruptive patterns in medical visits: the effects of role, status and gender

Fifty physicians (25 female, 25 male) representing six different levels of status (interns, second and third year residents, fellows and junior and senior staff) were videotaped, each with a male and a female patient. The videotapes were coded for interruptive and overlapping speech, for both physician and patient. Specific categories were successful interruptions, partially successful interruptions, unsuccessful interruptions and overlaps. In addition, all instances of interruptive and overlapping speech were coded as a question or a statement. Results showed, overall, that patients engaged in significantly more interruptive and overlapping speech than did physicians. However, when these variables were analyzed separately for questions and statements, patients were found to interrupt more with statements, whereas physicians interrupted more with questions. High and low status physicians did not differ in their use of interruptions. The few gender differences that did emerge did not indicate a clear pattern of male dominance. The results showing patients to interrupt physicians more than the reverse suggest that interrupting may not solely be a behavior of the higher status person. Together the findings of this study challenge the notion that interruptions simply reflect dominance and/or status and are a behavior more often displayed by males than by females.