The physician's self-evaluation of the consultation and patient outcome: a longitudinal study

Objective. To study whether the physician's evaluation of the consultation correlates to patient outcome one month later concerning symptom relief, sick leave, and drug compliance as perceived by the patient. The study also investigated whether the patient's evaluation of the consultation correlated to patient outcome. Design. A longitudinal study using questionnaires. Setting. A county in south-western Sweden. Subjects. Forty-six physicians and 316 primary care patients aged 16 years or more with a new complaint lasting one week or more were invited. A total of 289 patients completed a questionnaire presented at the consultation; 273 patients were reached in a follow-up telephone interview one month after the consultation. Main outcome measures. The association between each statement in the physician-patient questionnaire (PPQ) from the consultation and the answers obtained from the telephone interview were analysed by either multiple linear or logistic regression analysis. Results. Five out of 10 items in the PPQ were significantly associated with patient outcome. Physician's self-evaluation of the consultation was much more strongly associated with patient outcome than the patient's evaluation. Conclusion. The difference between the physician's and patient's evaluation of the consultation to predict patient outcomes indicates that the physician's self-evaluation of the consultation is of importance