Table 3.
Summary of Visit Duration and Participant Verbal Activity from Observational Studies
| Duration of Visit | k1 | n2 | Median (Range) | Mean (SD) | Pooled Effect Size, r (95%CI) | Pooled Significance | P-Value for Heterogeneity 5 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accompanied | Accompanied | ||||||||||
| No | Yes | No | Yes | Unweighted Mean r 3 | Weighted Mean r 3 | Combined Z 3 | P- Value 4 | ||||
| Length of Visit (Minutes) 6 | 6 | 883 | 20.2 (8.8, 49.1) | 25.1 (11.7, 57.4) | 24.6 (19.1) | 29.8 (21.4) | 0.13 (−0.01,0.27) | 0.19 (0.05,0.32) | 4.28 | <0.01 | 0.21 |
| Verbal Activity, by Participant (%) 6,7 | |||||||||||
| Patient | 3 | 307 | 45.9 (42.4,48.4) | 29.1 (27.7,40.4) | 45.5 (3.0) | 32.4 (6.9) | −0.14 (−0.24,−0.04) | −0.16 (−0.26,−0.06) | −2.45 | <0.01 | 0.92 |
| Patient and Companion | 3 | 307 | 45.9 (42.4,48.4) | 48.9 (48.7,57.6) | 45.5 (3.0) | 47.3 (5.0) | 0.02 (−0.06,0.09) | 0.02 (−0.06,0.10) | 0.35 | 0.73 | 0.88 |
| Physician | 3 | 307 | 54.1 (51.6,57.6) | 53.0 (48.7,58.3) | 54.4 (3.0) | 53.3 (4.8) | −0.01 (−0.10,0.08) | −0.02 (−0.11,0.07) | −0.28 | 0.78 | 0.87 |
k=number of independent study samples.
n=total sample for all contributing studies.
Positive effect in regard to visit duration indicates accompanied visits longer; in regard to verbal activity positive effect r indicates that dialogue for patient, patient and companion, and physician represent a greater proportion of visit dialogue during accompanied relative to unaccompanied visits.
P-value of Combined Z for weighted estimate. P-values are two-tail.
p<0.10 is considered evidence of substantial heterogeneity.
Contributing studies: Beisecker, Greene, Ishikawa, Jansen, Labreque, Street (visit duration); Ishikawa, Street, Shields (verbal activity).
Reflect average proportion of per-visit utterances (Ishikawa and Street) and mean words spoken (Shields).