Patient Doctor Relationship in COVID -19 Times, A Cross-Sectional Study in Aljouf Region

Introduction: Among interpersonal relationship the patient doctor relationship is an important yet difficult one.
The importance of this relationship lies in the fact that it has been associated with patient satisfaction, adherence
to treatment and treatment outcome. Covid 19 regulations including distancing and masking have affected
this relationship. The objective of this study was to assess the satisfaction of patients regarding doctor patient
relationship during the pandemic conditions
Methodology: Across sectional study with 342 participants using pre-validated Arabic version of PDRQ-9 was
conducted during the pandemic restrictions. Data was collected by direct interview and recorded on electronic
forms. All participants were above age of 18 and had visited the PHC at least one time before the pandemic.
Results: The questionnaire had 9 items with a likert scale of 1 to 5 with minimum score possible 9 and maximum
score 45, the average score obtained was 25 showing low overall satisfaction. The mean of all individual items
was between 2.7 and 2.88 with a minimum mean of 1 and maximum of 5 possible. There was no significant
association between score and age or gender. 56% of the participants believed that the patient doctor relationship
has changed during pandemic
Conclusion: The overall scoring of all items in the patient doctor relationship satisfaction was average