The patient-centredness of consultations and outcome in primary care

Background. There is general support for general practitioners (GPs) using patient-centred styles. However, there is limited British evidence of benef icial outcomes for patients from such styles. Aim. To explore whether, for patients presenting for new episodes of care, the GP's consulting style, specifically the patient-centredness of the cons ultation, is related to five generic outcomes. Method. General practitioners in South Wales were recruited, and one surger y consulting session was audiotape recorded for each participating clinicia n. Questionnaires were given to consenting patients before their consultati ons, immediately afterwards, and, by post, at two weeks to measure the foll owing outcomes: doctor-patient agreement (on The nature of the problem and management), patient satisfaction, resolution of symptoms, resolution of co ncerns, and functional health status. From the patients consulting for a ne w episode of care and completing all three questionnaires, one patient was selected at random for each GP and the audiotape of their consultation rate d for patient-centredness. Statistical analysis employed correlation coeffi cients and t-tests, followed by multiple regression and logistic regression to control for potential confounders. Results, In total, 143 patients consulting 143 GPs were studied. The patien t-centred score was positively and statistically significantly associated w ith patient satisfaction (Pearson correlation = 0.28; P = 0.002). No other associations were found with the other outcomes measured. Conclusion. The study presents evidence that patient-centred styles of cons ulting produce benefits in terms of increased patient satisfaction for pati ents consulting for new episodes of care in Britain.