Older patients don’t tell surgeons all their concerns

Older patients and their surgeons don’t communicate properly when exploring surgical options, compounding their condition, according to a study.

The researchers taped patient-surgeon consultations and later interviewed the patients to find out what, if anything, they had not discussed with their surgeons.

They found that the older adults had raised only about half of the concerns mentioned in the subsequent interview.

The researchers found that surgeons generally do a good job of responding to patient concerns when they are raised. However they found that patients appear highly selective about what concerns they mention.

These findings have been published in the July issue of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.