The DOI matches its Crossref record; 24 of the 24 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 2 of the 23 sources its claims cite were checked for support.
Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries
Open accessAbstract
Objectives : To compare determinants of consultation length discussed in the literature with those found in consultations with general practitioners from different European countries; to explore the determinants of consultation length, particularly the effect of doctors' and patients' perceptions of psychosocial aspects. Design : Analysis of videotaped consultations of general practitioners from the Eurocommunication study and of questionnaires completed by doctors and by patients. Setting : General practices in six European countries. Participants : 190 general practitioners and 3674 patients. Results : In a multilevel analysis with three levels (country, general practitioner, and patient), country and doctor variables contributed a similar amount to the total variance in consultation length (23% and 22%, respectively) and patient variables accounted for 55% of the variance. The variables used in the multilevel analysis explained 25% of the total variation. The country in which the doctor practised, combined with the doctors' variables, was as important for the variance in consultation length as the variation between patients. Consultations in which psychosocial problems were considered important by the doctor and the patient lasted longer than consultations about biomedical problems only. The doctor's perception had more influence in this situation than the patient's. Consultation length is influenced by the patients' sex (women got longer consultations), whether the practice was urban or rural, the number of new problems discussed in the consultation (the more problems the longer the consultation), and the patient's age (the older the patient the longer the consultation). As a doctor's workload increased, the length of consultations decreased. The general practitioner's sex or age and patient's level of education were not related to the length of consultation. Conclusion : Consultation length is determined by variables related to the doctor and the doctor's country as well as by those related to patients. Women consulting in an urban practice with problems perceived as psychosocial have longer consultations than other patients.
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TL;DR
Consultation length in six European countries varied substantially and was shaped by country, doctor, and patient factors, with patient-level variables accounting for 55% of total variance and country and doctor variables about 22–23% each. Consultations were longest for women in urban practices when psychosocial problems were perceived as important, especially by the doctor.
Key findings
- Mean consultation length overall was 10.7 (SD 6.7) minutes. Belgium (15.0 min) and Switzerland (15.6 min) had the longest consultations; Germany (7.6 min) and Spain (7.8 min) had the shortest; the Netherlands (10.2 min) and United Kingdom (9.4 min) were intermediate.
- In multilevel analysis, total variance in consultation length was 44.2, split into 24.4 (55%) at patient level, 9.8 (22%) at doctor level, and 10.0 (23%) at country level; the variables used explained 25% of total variation (R²=0.252).
- Consultations were longer in city practices by 1.5 minutes, for women patients by about 1 minute, for at least one new problem by 51 seconds, when the doctor perceived psychosocial problems as important by 50 seconds, when the patient perceived psychosocial aspects as important by 30 seconds, and when the GP diagnosed a psychosocial problem by 0.95 minutes.
- Consultation time increased by about 1 second per year of patient age and decreased by 0.6 seconds per additional weekly workload unit; GP sex or age, patient education, and prescribing behaviour were not significantly related to consultation length.
Methods
- Cross-sectional analysis of videotaped general practice consultations from the Eurocommunication study in six European countries, with questionnaires completed by doctors and patients.
- Participants were 190 general practitioners and 3674 patients; 20 consultations were videotaped per doctor and 15 per doctor were analysed. Consultation length was measured with a stopwatch, subtracting interruptions.
- Multilevel regression analysis with three levels (country, general practitioner, patient) using MLwiN 1.1; principal components analysis with Varimax rotation was used on patient questionnaire items, and SPSS 9.0 was used for data analysis.
Limitations
- The paper states that the general practitioner groups were not representative: they had lower workloads than doctors in the task profile study, more urban practices were included, and more women doctors took part.
- The paper states that all doctors agreed to have consultations videotaped, so they may have been more interested in communication and more experienced with research/training than average doctors, potentially biasing findings.
- The paper notes that only six countries were included, so country-level variation is subject to a large standard error; the text also makes evident that 976 of 4650 patients (21%) refused participation, with more women refusing and some problem types refusing more often, though age and education were similar between participants and refusers.
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Claims the paper makes
25 Own result · 12 Own interpretation · 8 No full text of the sources · 6 Own method · 3 Sources not found · 3 Not checked yet · 1 Partly supported · accuracy not yet measured
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“When the doctor perceived a psychosocial problem, the increase in consultation time was nearly twice as long as that when the patient perceived a psychosocial problem.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Psychosocial problems
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Consultations were longer when the doctor or patient felt that psychosocial problems were important (by 50 seconds for the doctor's perception and 30 seconds for the patient's perception) than when they did not.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Determinants of consultation length
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The length of consultation was not significantly longer for consultations in which psychosocial aspects were given as a reason for the encounter by the patient.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Psychosocial problems
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Consultations in city practices lasted 1.5 minutes longer than those in rural practices”
- Also stated in: § Other determinants · plain
“Consultations lasted longer in city based practices than in rural practices.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Determinants of consultation length
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Also stated in: § Other determinants · plain
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“those with women patients lasted about 1 minute longer than those with men”
- Also stated in: § Other determinants · plain
“Consultation times were longer for women patients than for men.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Determinants of consultation length
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Also stated in: § Other determinants · plain
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“From the patient's perspective, the consultation time was longer when the patient expected some help on psychosocial aspects from the doctor than when they did not.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Psychosocial problems
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“those about at least one new problem lasted 51 seconds longer than those about known problems.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Determinants of consultation length
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The mean length of consultation for all consultations was 10.7 (SD 6.7) minutes (table 4).”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Consultation length in different countries
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Consultations were longer when the doctor or patient felt that psychosocial problems were important (by 50 seconds for the doctor's perception and 30 seconds for the patient's perception) than when they did not.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Determinants of consultation length
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The variables used in the multilevel analysis at the different levels accounted for 25% of the explained variation (R_=0.252).”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Determinants of consultation length
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Probably not a substantial claim. 11
- It may state two separate claims as one. 22
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“Doctors spend more time with patients who have new problems than those with already discussed problems.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Introduction
What the sources say
- Partly supportedcites [8] Morell, 1986, The “five minute” consultation: effect of time constraint on clinical content and patient satisfaction., BMJ sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
The Introduction (p. 1) says that whether a consultation concerns a new problem or is a follow-up can affect its duration. It does not say that doctors spend more time on new problems than on previously discussed ones; the reported time comparisons concern appointment-booking intervals instead. (LLM, conf=0.77)
- Could not verifycites [9] Morell, 1987, How can good GP care be achieved?, BMJ sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
The Introduction discusses immediate and continuing problems, and the ‘How many patients can a general practitioner look after?’ section discusses consultation duration. Neither compares time spent with patients presenting new problems against time spent on previously discussed problems. Searches for that comparison and for follow-up consultation duration found no supporting passage in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.76)
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Partly supported
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The six countries could be divided into three pairs that differed significantly from each other with respect to total consultation time.Belgium and Switzerland had the longest consultation times, Germany and Spain had the shortest consultation times, and consultation times for the Netherlands and the United Kingdom were in between.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Consultation length in different countries
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The presence of psychosocial problems in a consultation was related to the consultation's duration only when a psychosocial problem was diagnosed by the general practitioner, but not when it was mentioned by the patient as a reason for the consultation.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Determinants of consultation length
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“As the patient's age increased by one year, the consultation time increased by one second.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Determinants of consultation length
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“For four countries (Belgium, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Switzerland), we compared our results with those from other studies in which consultation times were measured; for no country did the length of consultation in our study differ significantly from that in other studies from that country.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Consultation length in different countries
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The total variance in consultation length was 44.2.Multilevel analysis showed that this variance split into 24.4 (55%) at the patient level, 9.8 (22%) at the doctor level, and 10.0 (23%) at the country level.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Determinants of consultation length
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“When doctors perceived a psychosocial problem, the duration of the consultation increased; this was as true when the doctor thought that a psychosocial element was important, even if it was not mentioned in during the consultation, as when he or she made a psychosocial diagnosis.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Psychosocial problems
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Length of consultation was not significantly correlated with the educational level of the patient, the patient's sex or age, or the experience or prescribing behaviour of the doctor (table 5).”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Determinants of consultation length
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The consultation time decreased as the doctor's workload increased-the consultation time reduced by 0.6 seconds for every additional unit of workload in a week.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Determinants of consultation length
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Workload had a negative influence on consultation time, but this relation was weak when calculated as seconds.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Other determinants
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Of doctors' characteristics reported as important in the literature, our study confirmed only the positive orientation to psychosocial problems; the age and sex of the doctor had no impact on the duration of the consultation.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Other determinants
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Age seemed to influence the length of consultation, but its influence was too small to take into account-doctors spent about 1.2 seconds more time with patients for every year increase in the patients' age.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Other determinants
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The patient's age and social class are determinants of consultation length-the older the patient or the higher their social class, the longer the consultation.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Introduction
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [2] Buchnan IC Richardson IM .Time study of consultations in general practice. In: Scottish health services statistics, no 27. Edinburgh:Scottish Home and Health Department,1973.
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
A claim is checked only against the cited paper’s full text, never its abstract, and none is available for its sources.
In the paper
“The size of a doctor's list is not an important determinant of consultation length, except when lists are extremely large or extremely small.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Introduction
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [6] Butler J Calnan M .Too many patients? A study of the economy of time and standards of care in general practice. Aldershot:Avebury,1987. source
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [7] Knight, 1987, The importance of list size and consultation length as factors in general practice., J R Coll Gen Pract
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
In the paper
“Doctors are less likely to prescribe during long consultations.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Introduction
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [12] Hughes, 1983, Consultation length and outcome in two group general practices., J R Coll Gen Pract
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“A sample size of a minimum of 27 general practitioners in each country and 15 patients for each general practitioner was needed to detect an effect size of 0.30 at a significance level of 0.05 with a power of 0.80.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Methods
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
In the paper
“Important differences in consultation length exist between countries because of differences in the structure of healthcare organisations and the role of general practitioners.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Introduction
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [1] Wilson, 1991, Consultation length in general practice: a review., Br J Gen Pract
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Older doctors, women doctors, and doctors with positive attitudes to mental health problems tend to have longer consultations.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Introduction
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [2] Buchnan IC Richardson IM .Time study of consultations in general practice. In: Scottish health services statistics, no 27. Edinburgh:Scottish Home and Health Department,1973.
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [3] Gray, 1982, The effect of the doctor's sex on the doctor patient relationship., J R Coll Gen Pract
- Not matchedcites [4] Whitehous, 1987, A survey of the management of psychosocial illness in general practice in Manchester., J R Coll Gen Pract
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The presence of psychosocial problems in the consultation was an important factor influencing the length of consultation, and doctors' and patients' perceptions about psychosocial problems affected the length of the consultation.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Psychosocial problems
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“This analysis produced two subscales-a biomedical scale with six items and a psychosocial scale with four items (table 3).Cronbach's was 0.84 for the biomedical scale and 0.83 for the psychosocial scale.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Preliminary analysis
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A claim is checked only against the cited paper’s full text, never its abstract, and none is available for its sources.
In the paper
“Stopwatches accurately measure the length of consultations, and videotaping is accurate and valid and does not alter doctors' behaviour in consultations.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Introduction
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [1] Wilson, 1991, Consultation length in general practice: a review., Br J Gen Pract
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [13] Pringle, 1990, Does the awareness of being video recorded affect doctors' consultation behaviour?, Br J Gen Pract
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The country in which general practitioners work and the individual variation between general practitioners seem to be important determinants of the length of consultations.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Discussion
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Our general practitioners had lower workloads than the average doctor in the same country in the task profile study, there was a higher proportion of urban practices in our study, and more women doctors took part.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Other determinants
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“This contradicted a previous study, which showed that women doctors had longer consultations than men doctors.23”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Other determinants
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [23] Roter, 1991, Sex differences in patients' and physicians' communication during primary care visits., Med Care source
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“All of the doctors in our study agreed to have their consultations videotaped.This may mean that they were more interested in communication and had more experience with research and training than the average doctor.This positive attitude towards communication could have biased our findings.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Other determinants
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Studies based on observations of real encounters contradict, or at least tone down, conclusions from other types of research.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Conclusion
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“For new problems the doctor needs to explore the problem, but for follow up consultations the doctor can rely on information from earlier encounters.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Other determinants
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“This contradicts results from several studies that reported an influence of social class on consultation length.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Other determinants
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [1] Wilson, 1991, Consultation length in general practice: a review., Br J Gen Pract
- Not matchedcites [2] Buchnan IC Richardson IM .Time study of consultations in general practice. In: Scottish health services statistics, no 27. Edinburgh:Scottish Home and Health Department,1973.
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Although the patients in our study probably were representative of the population of the participating countries, the groups of general practitioners were not.”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Other determinants
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Women patients are often described as more talkative than men, and they are more likely to discuss psychosocial problems.23”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Other determinants
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [23] Roter, 1991, Sex differences in patients' and physicians' communication during primary care visits., Med Care source
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper relies on this without support.
General practitioners in Belgium and Switzerland are paid mostly by direct payment from the patient at the end of the consultation.
“Moreover, general practitioners in Belgium and Switzerland are paid mostly by direct payment from the patient at the end of the consultation.”
The paper relies on this without support.
The United Kingdom and the Netherlands have well organised primary healthcare systems, with restricted patient lists and gatekeeping.
“The United Kingdom and the Netherlands, which had intermediate consultation times, have well organised primary healthcare systems, with restricted patient lists and gatekeeping.”
The paper relies on this without support.
General practitioners in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are predominantly paid by capitation.
“General practitioners in these countries are predominantly paid by capitation (the government supplies a fee per patient).”
The paper relies on this without support.
In urban practices, patients presented more problems within one consultation.
“In urban practices, patients presented more problems within one consultation.”
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.
Rated minor: it would not touch a result — a value no result rests on, a p-value that stays on the same side of the significance level, or a conflict that is clerical, resolved elsewhere in the paper, or outside its own findings.
In the paper
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > What is already known on this topic
“Eurocommunication study | 190 | 44.5 (6.8) | 76:34 | 29:71 | 212 (106.7) |”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > What is already known on this topic
“| | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | Total | | Country | (n=127) | (n=63) | (n=190) | (n=1503) | (n=2171) | (n=3674) |”
Rated minor: it would not touch a result — a value no result rests on, a p-value that stays on the same side of the significance level, or a conflict that is clerical, resolved elsewhere in the paper, or outside its own findings.
In the paper
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > Determinants of consultation length
“Length of consultation was not significantly correlated with the educational level of the patient, the patient's sex or age, or the experience or prescribing behaviour of the doctor (table 5).”
§ Primary care Consultation length in general practice: cross sectional study in six European countries > What is already known on this topic
“| Woman patient | 0.99 (0.40 to 1.58) | | At least one new problem | 0.86 (0.27 to 1.46) | | Patient's age (years) | 0.02 (0.01 to 0.04) |”
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“The mini-mental state examination takes an average of eight minutes to administer. Many clinicians find time to complete this but with an average consultation time in general practice in Europe of 10.7 minutes”
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The need for research in primary care
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The Death Knoll for the MMSE: Has It Outlived Its Purpose?
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“4 min by an international study [32].”
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Patients’ engagement in primary care: powerlessness and compounding jeopardy. A qualitative study
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“In a specialist clinic, an administration time of 10 minutes may be acceptable whereas in a primary care consultation, an SCT requiring more than 5 minutes would be too long considering the mean length of consultations in most European countries.(3) SCTs should also require minimal instrument use and be straightforwar…”
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“[32] DeVeugele M, Derese A, van den Brink-Muinen A, Bensing J, De”
BackgroundSelf-citationDeterminants of consultation length in Australian general practice
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“These results are similar to the findings of other studies [25,26] and may be attributed to professional experience and greater range of communication skills.”
ResultArcher, S., de Villiers, C. B., Scheibl, F., Carver, T., Hartley, S., Lee, A., Cunningham, A. P., Easton, D., McIntosh, J. G., Emery, J., et al. (2020) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0229999 · Cited by 75
“Primary care clinicians were particularly concerned about the amount of information required for risk prediction as they had limited time available during their consultations [22].”
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“Furthermore, a study in six European countries including in the Netherlands exposed that in general practice women get longer consultations than men because psychosocial issues are more often discussed ( Deveugele et al. 2002 ).”
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“They have a list of about 1,500 patients each, usually grouped by families, to whom they assist in a continuous way at visits lasting from 7 to 9 minutes.(30,31) The doctor–patient relationship is of a paternalistic type predominantly, with some exception in educational settings.”
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“Given that the duration of a standard primary care consultation is approximately 10 min [51,52], this concern is understandable.”
Primary Care Visit Length, Quality, and Satisfaction for Standardized Patients with Depression
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“Previous studies have shown that there is wide variation in primary care visit length, and case-mix may account for up to 55% of that variance.(7) Consequently, the relative contribution of physician and organizational factors to visit length is uncertain.”
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“However, regular GP visits are brief and only take about ten minutes [26], with little time to discuss the topic of concern–let alone other health-related topics [64].”
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“However, this risk for contamination is considered to be trivial because the intervention contrasts so strongly with the usual care provided by a GP: a regular GP visit tends to be rather brief and normally takes about 10 minutes [68], with only a small amount of time available for assessment of (potential) health pro…”
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“Our results are therefore believed to be relevant for most patients in primary care in western Switzerland even if our mean consultation length of 27 minutes seems to be longer than usual encounters [23].”
How much time does it take to prescribe a new medication?
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“Studies have shown that female physicians spend more time overall with patients than their male counterparts [20,21]; in addition, older patients [3,21,22], women [21], those with more problems to discuss [21], and those who are new to a physician’s practice [22] have longer visits.”
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“Deprivation was based on the patient’s area of residence (Lower Layer Super Output Area level) using deciles of the 2015 Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 20 grouped into high deprivation (deciles 1–3), medium British Journal of General Practice, Online First 2020 2”
InfluentialConsultation content not consultation length improves patient satisfaction
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“Graph 1: Adapted from Carr Hill, Deveguele, and NHS.[4-6] This graph portrays the increasing GP consultation length in the UK, whilst also providing a comparison to European Union partners in 2002.”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluentialXuereb, C. B., Shaw, R. L., & Lane, D. A. (2012) · Patient Education and Counseling · doi:10.1016/j.pec.2012.05.011 · Cited by 66
“[35] found that the mean length of consultations in the UK was almost 10 minutes.”
BackgroundMoney for Nothing: The Dire Straits of Medical Practice in Delhi, IndiaPreprint
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An Overview of Self-Administered Health Literacy Instruments
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“In a large European study, for example, Deveugele et al [67] found that the average length of a primary care consultation was 10.”
BackgroundInfluentialUtilidad de los test breves en el cribado de demencia
Villarejo‐Galende, A., & Puertas‐Martín, V. (2011) · Neurología · doi:10.1016/j.nrl.2010.12.002 · Cited by 73
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“8), corresponding to earlier findings [24].”
Renewing Primary Care: Lessons Learned From The Spanish Health Care System
Borkan, J., Eaton, C. B., Novillo-Ortiz, D., Corte, P. R., & Jadad, A. R. (2010) · Health Affairs · doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2010.0023 · Cited by 62
Effectiveness and costs of phototest in dementia and cognitive impairment screening
Pardo, C. C., Espejo-Martínez, B., López-Alcalde, S., García, M. E., Sáez‐Zea, C., Vílchez-Carrillo, R. M., Torres, E. H., & Espigares, J. L. N. (2011) · BMC Neurology · doi:10.1186/1471-2377-11-92 · Cited by 63
“However, the Eurotest requires 7 minutes to complete and is therefore less useful in PC, in which time constraints are crucial [50].”
Diagnosis and management of acromegaly: the patient’s perspective
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“However, increasing caseloads, economic and time pressure as well as prolonged waiting times for access to medical specialists and short consultations (8 min on average in a 2002 study) may have resulted in a more symptom-oriented manner of delivering care, with less emphasis on clinical reasoning and the recognition…”
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“5 minutes [33], by international standards, primary care consultations in Hong Kong’s public sector clinics are brief [35].”
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“Mental health problems need less biomedical but more psychosocial talk between the doctor and the patient [9, 19] and last only about two minutes more than consultations for somatic disorders.”
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“’’ [5,6].”
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Perceptions of time constraints among primary care physicians in Germany
Knesebeck, O. V. D., Koens, S., Marx, G., & Scherer, M. (2019) · BMC Family Practice · doi:10.1186/s12875-019-1033-5 · Cited by 56
What factors affect patients' recall of general practitioners' advice?
Selič, P., Švab, I., Repolusk, M., & Guček, N. K. (2011) · BMC Family Practice · doi:10.1186/1471-2296-12-141 · Cited by 55
“Women consulting in an urban practice with problems perceived as psychosocial have longer consultations than other patients [23].”
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“Consultations in general practice in the Netherlands take, on average, 10.2 min [25].”
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“Moreover, it has been demonstrated that consultations with patients who suffer from mental health problems take more time [4–9] and leave the GPs more often with the subjective experience of a lack of time [7].”
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“10 min) given the time constraints on Primary Care (PC) consultations [25].”
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“In 2006, Deveugle showed that the consultation time duration was varying from 7 min in Spain and Germany to 15 min in Belgium and Switzerland [26].”
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“Deveugele et al [33] state that good communication requires both knowledge and empathy where the interaction between patient and care provider is most important [34].”
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“Thus, one may expect patients and physicians in rural areas to preserve the traditional physician–patient hierarchy more than is the case in urban areas, leading to lower influence of the patient on the physician (also see Deveugele et al. 2002).”
Blood pressure lowering efficacy of beta-blockers as second-line therapy for primary hypertension
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Comparison of French training and non-training general practices: a cross-sectional study
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“However, such a criterion cannot be extrapolated to any country, as the number and the length of consultations depend on the health care system [47].”
Background
Metadata
- Authors
- Deveugele, M., Derese, A., van den Brink-Muinen, A., Bensing, J., & De Maeseneer, J.
- Affiliations
- Ghent University (BE)
- Corresponding author
- Deveugele, Myriam
- ORCID
- Deveugele, Myriam
- Venue
- BMJ
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2002-08-31
- Volume
- 325
- Issue
- 7362
- Pages
- 472.1
- ISSN
- 0007-1447 (ISSN-L)
- 0959-8138
- 1468-5833
- PMC
- PMC119444
- OpenAlex
- W2124095734
- Semantic Scholar
- 2119cffb00ce6639f398f137dd296833fd1f4fe7
- Cited by
- 515
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 25 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 26 · 2014: 27 · 2013: 27 · 2012: 27
- FWCI
- 27.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.bmj.com/company/legal-information/terms-conditions/legal-information/tdm-licencepolicy (tdm)
- Locations
- BMJ (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (submittedVersion)
- PubMed Central (submittedVersion)
- Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (submittedVersion)
- Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Family Practice › Primary Care and Health Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Healthcare Systems and Technology
- Keywords
- consultation time, general practice, general practitioners, patient sex, psychosocial problems, physician workload, patient age, patient education level, cross-national comparison, doctor-patient interaction
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Age Factors, Appointments and Schedules, Cross-Sectional Studies, Europe, Factor Analysis, Statistical, Family Practice, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Office Visits, Physician-Patient Relations, Professional Practice, Surveys and Questionnaires, Rural Health, Time and Motion Studies, Urban Health, Patient Satisfaction
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
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