| Sumario: | Purpose Communication between patients and physicians is an important element of patient-centered care. It has been suggested that various communication skills such as active listening, responses to patients' concerns, and the use of plain languages help patients to adhere to their treatment, ultimately contributing to the improvement of their satisfaction. In addition, psychological communication approaches promoting social interaction between patients and healthcare providers positively influence patients' health (Stewart, 2001). The aim of this study was to examine 1) whether active communication between older patients and physicians is associated with satisfaction with healthcare services, and 2) what aspect of communication skills contributes to the improvement of older patients' satisfaction. Method The study used data from the Korea Survey on Healthcare Service Experience (KSHSE), conducted by the Ministry of Health & Social Welfare and the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. A total of 3395 individuals from the KSHSE, over age 60, were included in the analyses. Logistic regression was conducted to assess the association between communication skills and older patients' satisfaction with healthcare services. Results and Discussion Our results show that older patients with a positive experience of communication with physicians were more likely to report greater satisfaction with healthcare services. In particular, physicians who were polite (OR: 2.81; 95%CI: 1.84-4.29), used plain language (OR: 1.56; 95%CI: 1.08-2.26), provided opportunities for questions (OR: 2.25; 95%CI: 1.59-3.19), and addressed patients' concerns (OR: 1.99; 95%CI: I. 44-2.75), and had enough conversation (OR: 2.11; 95%CI: 1.57-2.82) were closely related to greater satisfaction of healthcare services among older adults. Our findings confirm the importance of communication between patients and physicians in the provision of healthcare services. To provide good quality of healthcare services, the improvement of all aspects of communications skills is needed. In addition, it is considerable to develop educational programs for health professionals to improve their communication skills that ultimately contribute to improvement of health and well-being in older adults.
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