McLean and Armstrong conclude that eliciting patient concerns in the consultation resulted in longer consultations.1 The results section did not include these results in detail but states ‘Intervention consultations were on average 1 minute longer than controls, that is 11.0 minutes versus 10.0 minutes, although this difference did not reach statistical significance’.
Why bother to test for statistical significance if it is ignored in this way? Surely the correct conclusion is that there was no difference between the groups in the length of consultations, and that the benefits described came at no extra cost.
- © British Journal of General Practice, 2004.
