Giving patients an audiotape of their GP consultation: a randomised controlled trial

Providing patients with an audiotape of their medical consultation has been a relatively common practice in oncology clinics for some years. However, broader generalisability of the technique has yet to be examined.

To investigate the efficacy of providing patients with an audiotape of their consultation in a general practice setting.

Randomised controlled trial: 95 experimental participants, 85 controls.

Routine surgeries run by two general practitioners (GPs) in two different health centres.

All patients attending GP appointments were eligible for inclusion. Patients were followed up by telephone 7-10 days later.

More than half (61%) of the patients who received a tape listened to it. Among listeners, 64% rated the tape useful or very useful; 24% noticed information not heard in the consultation. Half of listeners (46%) said that their understanding of the consultation improved after listening to the tape. Half of the listeners (48%) shared the tape with others, of whom 71% found sharing helpful or very helpful. However, 21% of those who shared the information with others found this unhelpful or very unhelpful, suggesting that patients may need to be briefed on the potential risks of sharing. At follow-up a week later, it emerged that being given a tape had no effect on adherence with GPs' advice, nor on anxiety about conditions.

Providing patients with an audiotape of their GP consultation was positively rated by many patients. Although there were no detectable clinical effects at follow-up, the technique merits further evaluation in general practice.