Collegiate Student-Athletes' Perceptions of Patient-Centered Care Delivered by Athletic Trainers

CONTEXT: The health care core competencies indicate that all medical professionals should provide patient-centered care (PCC), which is defined as care that is respectful and responsive to the patient's values and preferences, during each encounter. OBJECTIVE: To identify collegiate student-athletes' definitions of PCC and measure their perceived level of PCC from an athletic trainer (AT). DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Mixed-methods survey. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: A total of 610 (age = 19 ± 1 year) National Collegiate Athletic Association student-athletes completed the survey. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The survey consisted of 1 open-ended question that prompted the participant to define PCC in his or her own words. The quantitative data were gathered using the Global Perceptions of Athletic Trainer PCC tool, which explores the overall agreement with the AT's use of PCC constructs. Finally, those participants who had received care from an AT completed the validated Patient Perception of Patient-Centeredness instrument. Qualitative analysis was completed through Text IQ technology with a mean sentiment score attributed to each of the coded statements. We calculated descriptive statistics for all quantitative data. RESULTS: The qualitative analysis revealed 13 topics, with the most used being individual, priority, and best. Other topics were inconsistent with how the medical community has defined PCC. On the Global Perceptions of Athletic Trainer PCC tool, the participants expressed strong agreement (mode = 4) with 12 of the 15 statements. On the Patient Perception of Patient-Centeredness instrument, participants expressed that the AT was completely (mode = 4) patient centered for all dimensions during their most recent encounter. However, PCC behaviors, as defined by the medical community, may not be directly expressed according to collegiate student-athletes. CONCLUSIONS: Student-athletes defined PCC as individualized and prioritized health care. They perceived that ATs provided care that kept their best interest in mind and practiced PCC during their encounters.