Factors influencing healthcare provider-patient communication of patients with chronic diseases

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of e-health literacy in patients with chronic diseases on their healthcare provider-patient communication. Methods: The participants were 184 patients with chronic illnesses admitted to a general hospital. Using a structured-questionnaire, data were collected from December 1 to 31, 2018. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Scheffé test, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple linear regression with IBM SPSS/WIN 22.0. Results: Healthcare provider-patient communication was positively correlated with e-health literacy (r=.87, p<.001). Factors influencing healthcare provider-patient communication were e-health literacy (β=.87, p<.001), subjective health statues (β=.17, p=.011), health concerns (β=-.15, p<.001), number of questions during the hospital treatment (β=.14, p=.003), and education (β=-.14, p=.048). The input variables explained 70.8% of healthcare provider-patient communication. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that healthcare providers should provide reliable online health information to patients and encourage health-oriented attitudes in order to communicate about health information that patients obtained from online.