Factors contributing to the length of general practice consultations

Ten general practitioners in a study of general practice consultations were shown to differ significantly in the time they spent in their consultations. Patient demographic characteristics contributed little to differences in consultation time. Consultations in which (a) there was a diagnosis of psychological disorder, (b) the practitioner and the patients focused attention on psychosocial matters, and (c) psychotropic drugs were prescribed, were found to be associated with increased length of consultation time.