[Division of time in the consultation with the primary care doctor]

To determine the mean time per meeting--visit--and per problem attended to in the doctor's office and their distribution according to the care procedure during the visit.

Prospective study of the direct encounter in the doctor's office with a third person as timer. SETTING. Three doctors at 2 family medicine clinics (each with a list of about 2500 health cards).

316 health problems attended to in 289 direct encounters in the doctor's office. Main measurements. Total time according to type of direct encounter in the doctor's office and problem addressed. Determination of the time spent on each stage of the encounter.

Mean time per direct encounter in the doctor's office of 9.1 minutes, and mean time per problem attended of 7.4 minutes, with a range from 76 seconds to 25 minutes. 84% were spontaneous visits, 13.5% were scheduled and 2.5% could not be put off/were urgent. Problems were mainly bureaucratic in 17% of cases, organic in 77.4 and psycho-social-family in 5.6%. Mean time devoted to advice and treatment was 2.4 minutes; that devoted to explanation of the problem, 18.3 seconds. The times varied according to the kind of problem, the doctor and the sex and age of the patient.

Distribution of time during the medical visit depends on the kind of problem involved. The doctor and the age and sex of the patient also affect the question. The short time spent on the explanation of the problem suggests that the period for active listening should be extended.