The primary objective of this study is to determine whether exploring the request for help more thoroughly improves patient satisfaction in general practice (primary care).
Patient satisfaction has been an important topic of interest in primary health care during the last decade(s). Many factors during the consultation influence patient satisfaction. One of the aspects in a consultation is the request for help; especially in primary care the request for help has been recognised as an important aspect influencing patient satisfaction. The investigators hypothesized that exploring the request for help more thoroughly would improve patient satisfaction in general practice.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
209
Patients in the intervention group could write down their request for help on a request card (with a maximum of 2 questions).
Isala Clinics
Zwolle, Overijssel, Netherlands
Patient satisfaction measured with the Consultation Satisfaction Questionnaire
The primary endpoint is the 'Professional Care' (PC) scale of the 'Consultation Satisfaction Questionnaire' (CSQ). In a previous study the score on the PC were 88.2 en 80.9 in the intervention and control groups, respectively. The standard deviations were 11.8 en 16.1. For our sample size calculation we used an expected standard deviation of 15. The sample size required to detect a difference of 7 on the PC scale between the intervention and control group, with a power of 90%, and alpha of 5% (two-tailed), and a standard deviation of 15, was 196 patients. We rounded this number off to 200.
Time frame: 15-30 minutes (after the consultation patients filled in the questionnaire)
Patient satisfaction measured with the Visual Analog Scale
On a scale of 0-10 patients could fill in the Visual Analog Scale with regard to the patient satisfaction during the consultation
Time frame: 15-30 minutes (patients filled in the Visual Analog Scale after the consultation)
Doctor satisfaction measured with the Visual Analog Scale
On a scale from 0-10 general practitioners could fill in the Visual Analog Scale with regard to their own satisfaction about the consultation
Time frame: 15-30 minutes (general pracitioners filled in the Visual Analog Scale after the consultation)
Duration of the consultation
Duration of the consultation was compared between both groups
Time frame: 15-30 minutes (after the consultation the doctor measured the time with a stopwatch)
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