Table 3.
Recording of problems, referral investigation, prescribing and re-consultation rate.
| Appointment length in minutes (number of patients included) | Consultation with >1 problem (%) | Consultation with psychological problem (%) | Referred to specialist (%) | Investigation (%) | Prescribing (%) | Re-consultation (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morrell 1986 | P<0.01a | P NS | P NSa | P NSa | P NSa | P NSa | |
| 5 (275) | 11 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 59 | 16b | |
| 7.5 (262) | 16 | 14 | 9 | 10 | 63 | 12 | |
| 10 (243) | 22 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 62 | 18 | |
| Ridsdale 1989 | P NSa | P NSa | P NSa | P NSa | |||
| 5 (348) | 14 | 8 | - | - | 61 | 30d | |
| 10 (277) | 19 | 8 | - | - | 63 | 29 | |
| 15 (336) | 14 | 5 | - | - | 58 | 31 | |
| Wilson 1992 (unpublished results in parentheses) | |||||||
| P NSc | P NSc | P NSc | P NSc | P NSc | |||
| 6–7.5 (1496) | (32) | - | (5.0) | (8.8) | 55.7 | (42)d | |
| 10 (1461) | (35) | - | (5.7) | (10.6) | 56.9 | (46) | |
| Thomas 1978 | P NSc | ||||||
| Short consultation (100) | 27e | ||||||
| Long consultation (100) | 20 | ||||||
a
χ2 for trend.
b
Asked to book return consultation.
b
χ2.
d
Re-consultation within 12 weeks.
e
Re-consultation within 4 weeks.
NS = Not stated.