This is the first study to measure patient-centeredness and associated determinants in a larger national sample including several clinics of varying sizes. On average, the women's rating of overall PCS in this study was lower than what has been shown in previous comparable studies [16, 24]. An explanation could be that our data is based on a national sample including university hospitals, county hospitals and district hospitals, while earlier studies collected data from specialized endometriosis centres [16, 24].
Our results showed that “Respect for patients’ values, preferences and needs” and “Endometriosis clinic staff” were the two most patient-centered dimensions of endometriosis care, while “Emotional support and alleviation of fear and anxiety” had the lowest score. This is similar to earlier studies [16, 24]. The items measuring “Respect for patients’ values, preferences and needs” and “Endometriosis clinic staff” mainly focus on healthcare professionals’ ability to meet their patients with respect, to invite them to participate in their own care and to be supportive and friendly. The items regarding “Emotional support and alleviation of fear and anxiety” are more focused on the psychological impact of endometriosis, the opportunity to consult a counsellor and if they are given information on a patients’ organization. Hence, it could indicate that healthcare professionals being respectful and friendly is not sufficient to alleviate fear and anxiety, and more concern should be given to provide emotional support. The lack of sufficient emotional support has been highlighted before [10, 25].
The most important finding was the independent association between having a responsible gynecologist and several dimensions of PCS and overall PCS. The determinant of having a responsible gynecologist also had the highest β coefficients, meaning that it had more influence on PCS than the other determinants. Having a responsible gynecologist seem to increase the chances of experiencing patient-centeredness. In the literature, this has been described as the most responsible physician, who has the responsibility for the long- and short-term medical treatment of a patient, including follow-up and evaluation [26]. According to Swedish law, clinics are obligated to provide a most responsible physician if it is necessary to satisfy a patient’s safety, continuity and coordination of care. Therefore, most patients with chronic diseases have a most responsible physician. It could be argued, that, at least, all women with complex endometriosis should have a responsible gynecologist. This is something that could be highlighted in national and international guidelines. The National Guidelines for Endometriosis Care in Sweden [27] emphasize the importance of multi-professional teams working with the more complex cases, but there is limited implications of the guidance on the continuity of care. In the recently updated endometriosis guidelines from the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, there is no implication of the structure of care [28]. In our sample, two thirds had a responsible gynecologist, indicating that most clinics have a routine regarding responsible gynecologists, but the issue warrants further investigation.
Having a responsible gynecologist to care for endometriosis patients provides continuity in the contact with healthcare professionals. The importance of continuity has been noticed in endometriosis literature before, but to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to show an association between continuity and patient-centeredness. Apers et al. [29] showed that the ECQ dimension “Continuity and transition” was associated with overall HRQoL and the experience of emotional well-being and social support. Moreover, continuity has been identified as a specific target for improvement of patient-centeredness in endometriosis care [24, 29]. However, physicians should to bear in mind that continuity sometimes leads to a risk for tunnel vision thinking, which limits the holistic approach that is also often necessary to give proper care to women with complex endometriosis. Ideally, the care could be monitored by the responsible gynecologist in close cooperation with multiprofessional teams.
The importance of a well-functioning relationship with healthcare professionals is also reflected in the MIS scores, where “Respect for patients’ values, preferences and needs”, “Information, communication and education”, “Continuity and transition”, “Technical skills” and “Endometriosis clinic staff” were the most important dimensions. “Physical comfort” was the least important aspect, indicating that improvement work should focus on relational aspects rather than comfort in the waiting room.
Overall grading of endometriosis care was significant for overall PCS and for nine out of the ten dimensions of care. This suggests that a basic 0–10 grading scale can be used by healthcare professionals as a tool to obtain an indication of the experience of patient-centeredness in endometriosis care at their clinic. However ECQ is preferred for a thorough assessment of patient-centeredness in endometriosis care [16].
One strength of this study is that study participants constitute a random sample of women with confirmed endometriosis from ten different clinics of varying sizes from different parts of Sweden. All women had a confirmed endometriosis diagnosis, which seldom is the case in endometriosis research. Also, our population had a similar socioeconomic level as an age- and gender-matched population of Swedish women [30].
One limitation is the risk of self-selection bias, i.e. responding depends on experiences or satisfaction of care. Furthermore, ECQ can been criticized for risking a high recall bias, since women are obliged to answer with their entire care history in mind.
The clinical implication of the results are that women with endometriosis could benefit from having a responsible gynecologist, and that clinics should organize their work around the idea of gynecologists having a handful of endometriosis patients to especially care for. Furthermore, possible interventions and actions to emotionally support women and alleviate fear and anxiety need more attention.