Patients' reactions to attempts to increase passive or active coping with surgery

It is generally regarded as valuable for patients to exercise control over aspects of their medical treatment. Although psychological and other interventions are commonly used with the aim of increasing patients' ability or willingness to control events, it is not known whether patients experience these procedures in the way assumed. The present study compared responses to (i) a psychological intervention designed to increase patients' readiness to exercise control and cope actively and (ii) a comparable intervention intended to induce acceptance and passive coping. Hip or knee arthroplasty patients were visited preoperatively by a researcher who administered the active (N = 15) or passive (N = 15) intervention in a dialogue with the patient. Patients' verbal responses to the interventions were analyzed qualitatively to identify the range of reactions to each type of intervention. Patients readily accepted the passive message on the grounds of doctors' and nurses' authority and the value of the patients' emotional detachment from their surgery. Few responses to the active message indicated acceptance that patients have control over their care and its outcomes; instead, recipients typically interpreted it in terms of the need for obedience to medical and nursing authority. In conclusion, patients do not automatically accept messages intended to change ways of coping. In particular, the attempt to increase patients' readiness to take control over aspects of care can be perceived by patients in an opposite way to that intended. This and previous studies suggest that patient control over aspects of treatment is a professional and theoretical construction that often means little to patients.