Abstract Objectives This study investigates doctor's information provision practices regarding hypertensive treatment in medical consultations, arguing that good doctoring practices and shared decision-making (SDM) involve not only aligning treatments with patient's preferences but also providing essential information support to create linkage between biomedical and lifeworld contexts. Methods Using Conversation Analysis, we examined 30 video-recorded consultations from a Tier-3 Chinese hospital (March–August 2022) with newly diagnosed hypertensive patients, supplemented by 3-month follow-up medication adherence rating using MMAS-8. Results Findings show that while sufficient informational provision enhances adherence, such support is limited – beyond ‘medication administration methods’ and ‘follow-up visits and contingency plans’, most types of information support appeared in under 50 % of consultations. Less than 50 % of patients exhibited high adherence, with two patients never starting medication and eight discontinuing it independently within three months from starting. The suboptimal levels of adherence signaling critical gaps in consensus between doctors and patients and patient's understanding of the prescribed treatment. Conclusions These results underscore the need for training of doctoring practices to address informational gaps of patients and enhancing patient-doctor collaboration in chronic disease management. In addition, this study refines SDM theory, offering implications for public health education and health policy-making to improve patient awareness and medication adherence.
Wang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.