A comparative conversation analysis of doctors' information-gathering process in medical consultations

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K03842
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Sociology
• Research Institution: Osaka Kyoiku University
• Principal Investigator: Kushida Shuya 大阪教育大学, 教育学部, 教授 (70214947)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 阿部 哲也 関西医科大学, 医学部, 講師 (20411506)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): YAMAKAWA Yuriko 茨城県立医療大学, 保健医療学部, 教授 (40381420) ; KAWASHIMA Michie 関西外国語大学, 短期大学部, 准教授 (00706822)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 精神科医療 / 会話分析 / 情報収集 / 処置決定 / 薬物療法 / 精神療法

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In medical encounters, doctors sometimes have to convey views of patients' problems which are not in line with patients' views and expectations. One such situation in psychiatric consultations is when the patient complains about symptoms which persist in spite of treatment, while the psychiatrist regards the patient's condition as not serious enough to adjust treatment or has no satisfactory explanations or solutions. Based on an analysis of video-recorded psychiatric consultations in Japan, this study investigates how psychiatrists cope with such situations and shows that they steer the interaction away from the complaints using a series of moves with which they transform the reported symptoms into evidence that supports their view of the patients' problems. It is argued that such procedures may be used, on the one hand, to encourage patients to reconsider their experiences, but on the other, to avoid to engage with patients' concerns.

Free Research Field

社会学