RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 What do patients want from doctors? Content analysis of written patient agendas for the consultation.
JF British Journal of General Practice
JO Br J Gen Pract
FD British Journal of General Practice
SP 796
OP 800
VO 49
IS 447
A1 R K McKinley
A1 J F Middleton
YR 1999
UL http://bjgp.org/content/49/447/796.abstract
AB BACKGROUND: Although much has been written about what patients want when they contact their general practitioner (GP), there are no published data from large cohort studies of what patients expect. AIM: To describe the expectations of a large group of patients who consulted with their GPs. METHOD: A GP and a social sciences graduate carried out a content analysis of written agenda forms completed by 819 patients who consulted 46 randomly selected GPs. Inter- and intra-rater reliabilities were confirmed. RESULTS: A total of 756 (92%) agenda forms were returned. Inter-rater reliability was satisfactory (kappa > 0.6 for all but two main themes). Almost all patients had requests they wished to make of their doctor, 60% had their own ideas about what was wrong, and 38% had considered explanations about why they were unwell. Forty-two per cent and 24% of patients had consulted because they had reached the limit of their anxiety or tolerance respectively. Seven per cent, 4%, and 2% had comments, which were usually negative, to make about previous management, communication with doctors, or time in the consultation. CONCLUSION: These data demonstrate that most patients come to the consultation with a particular agenda. Failure to address this agenda is likely to adversely affect the outcome of many consultations.