THE PATIENT REQUESTS FORM - A WAY OF MEASURING WHAT PATIENTS WANT FROM THEIR GENERAL-PRACTITIONER

A consumer-oriented approach to the delivery of health care and an und erstanding of the processes that influence clinical management decisio ns require the measurement of what patients seek when they consult the ir doctor. The present study completed the development of an instrumen t (the Patient Requests Form) that can quantify the intentions of pati ents attending their general practitioner. The Patient Requests Form w as completed by 410 patients attending two general practices: one in a n inner city area, the other in a small town. Principal components ana lysis revealed that the responses from each sample yielded identical c omponents that described three distinct types of request: (i) for expl anation and reassurance, (ii) for emotional support, and (iii) for inv estigation and treatment. Scales constructed to measure each type of r equest have high internal consistency while being sufficiently brief t o be acceptable to general practice patients. The Patient Requests For m is a novel, convenient method to quantify the intentions of patients when they consult a general practitioner. It permits research into ne glected aspects of consultation behaviour, including the factors that influence patients' intentions to seek different kinds of help and GPs ' perceptions of these intentions.