Publication
Consultation hold: interruptions during General Practice consultations
| dc.contributor.author | Botas, Philippe | |
| dc.contributor.author | Pereira, Carolina | |
| dc.contributor.author | Santiago, Luiz Miguel | |
| dc.contributor.author | Cruz, Ana Rita | |
| dc.contributor.author | Carvalho, Rosa | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2015-03-08T22:00:02Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2015-03-08T22:00:02Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2014-07 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Introduction: The impact of interruptions (IR) in consultations is recognized. A study in Ireland identified IR in 53 of 212 consultations (25%) and the most common source was the phone. In Spain, 91% and 54% of consultations of two family doctors had an IR, with a mean duration of 35 and 16 seconds. Objective: To characterize the IR in consultations of the researchers’ Health Unit, in the centre of Portugal. Methods: Cross-sectional study. Authorization granted by Official Ethics Committee. General and Family Medicine consultations periods with at least 2 hours were randomized, by doctor in 2 weeks of evaluation. Informed consent was signed by patients. The researcher physician sat in the corner of the consulting room and recorded the information in a specifically designed data sheet. Significant IR was defined as the one lasting more than 5 seconds and/or changing the flow of the consultation. Inside and outside IR was defined according to origin in relation to consulting room. Data were analyzed by descriptive and nonparametric inferential statistics. Results: 37 of 63 consultations (58.7%) had at least one IR, with a mean duration of 42 seconds. No significant difference comparing weeks (p=0.440) or morning/afternoon periods (p=0.556). 19 consultations had 1 IR (51.4%), followed by 2 IR (10), 3 IR (6), 4 and 5 IR (1). In 34 consultations (91.9%) the IR were considered significant and in 30 consultations (83.3%) were considered unjustified. Of 66 IR, 57 (86.4%) were significant. The commonest source was the door [29 (43.9%) of the total and 27 (47.4%) of the significant IR], mainly caused by a physician [specialist (24%) and intern (21%)], followed by patient (21%), nurse (17%) and technical assistant (17%). Other sources were patient or doctor’s phone mobile (18.2%), lack of material (12.1%), consulting room telephone (10.6%), electronic problem (7.6%) and exit from office (7.6%). Lack of material and 3 cases of exit from office were considered justified. Outside factors had greater impact on consultations (p=0.041). Discussion: In this study at least half of the consultations had an IR. The door stands out as the main source and had a high impact. The IR by an intern may represent peculiarities of the formation. The inside factors, mainly the phone mobile and exit from office, are related to core doctor/patient and revealed to have a lesser impact. Correction measures can improve performance for even the justified IR can be avoided. | por |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.26/8000 | |
| dc.language.iso | por | por |
| dc.subject | Interrupções | por |
| dc.subject | Consultas | por |
| dc.subject | Medicina Geral e Familiar | por |
| dc.title | Consultation hold: interruptions during General Practice consultations | por |
| dc.type | conference object | |
| dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
| oaire.citation.conferencePlace | Lisboa, Portugal | por |
| oaire.citation.title | Wonca Europe Conference 2014 | por |
| rcaap.rights | openAccess | por |
| rcaap.type | conferenceObject | por |