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Features of good consultation in general practice: is time important?
1Mariehem Health Centre, Umeå, Sweden.
Objective:
To relate specifically defined 'good consultations' (GC) to length of consultation, continuity, patients' age and sex, and different doctors.
Design:
A questionnaire about consultation length, communication and problem character, given to doctors and patients immediately after consultations.
Main Outcome Measures:
The number of GCs for different doctors in relation to time, continuity, and patients' age and sex were calculated.
Setting:
581 consultations were registered with six male general practitioners working at three different health centres in Umeå, a university town in northern Sweden.
Results:
A significant difference in the number of GCs was only found between the doctors (p < 0.01). Length of consultation, patients' age and sex, and continuity and no impact on the GC frequency.
Conclusion:
The doctor as a person and his working style is most important in achieving good consultations in general practice. Length of consultation is less influential.