Patients' Influence on Doctors' Behavior: A Case Study of Patient Strategies in Somatization

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Extensive empirical data and theory describe the inequality of power in relations between doctors and their patients. However, the focus has been on the ways in which doctors control the doctor-patient relationship. This has meant that the extent to which patients influence the consultation, and the ways in which they do this, have been neglected. METHODS: In this article, we use a single case to identify and illustrate distinct ways in which patients exert power to determine the outcome of consultations. CONCLUSION: This analysis leads to a more powerful explanation than is presently available to understand the somatization of psychological needs. According to this, the patient organizes strategies, which include the presentation of emotional and social distress, around a biomedical model. Because of their prior decisions as to their role, doctors permit themselves to be trapped in this model.