Doctors and others who take care of hospitalized patients may want to sit down for this piece of news. A new study suggests that getting at a patient's eye level when talking with them about their diagnosis or care can really make a difference. Sitting or crouching at a hospitalized patient's bedside was associated with more trust, satisfaction and even better clinical outcomes than standing, according to the new review of evidence.
The study's authors, from the University of Michigan and VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, note that most of the studies on this topic varied with their interventions and outcomes, and were found to have high risk of bias. Their findings are published in a systematic review in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. So, the researchers sat down and figured out how to study the issue as part of their own larger evaluation of how different non-verbal factors impact care, perceptions and outcomes.
Until their new study ends, they say their systematic review should prompt clinicians and hospital administrators to encourage more sitting at the bedside. Something as simple as making folding chairs and stools available in or near patient rooms could help – and in fact, the VA Ann Arbor has installed folding chairs in many hospital rooms at the Lieutenant Colonel Charles S. Kettles VA Medical Center.
Nathan Houchens, M.D., the U-M Medical School faculty member and VA hospitalist who worked with U-M medical students to review the evidence on this topic, .