• Family practice · Oct 2020

    Observational Study

    An overview of general practitioner consultations in China: a direct observational study.

    • Chenwen Zhong, Zhuojun Luo, Cuiying Liang, Mengping Zhou, and Li Kuang.
    • Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
    • Fam Pract. 2020 Oct 19; 37 (5): 682-688.

    BackgroundGeneral practitioner (GP) consultation has long been considered an important component of general practice, but few studies have focused on its characteristics in China.ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore the content and elucidate the characteristics of GP consultations in general practice in China.MethodsA multimethod investigation of GP consultations in eight community health centres in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, China was conducted between July 2018 and January 2019. Data from 445 GP consultations were collected by direct observation and audio tape and analysed by a modified Davis Observation Code with indicators for frequencies and detailed time durations. GP and patient characteristics were collected by post-visit surveys.ResultsThe mean visit duration was approximately 5.4 minutes. GPs spent the most time on treatment planning, history taking, negotiating, notetaking and physical examination and less time on health promotion, family information collecting, discussing substance use, procedures and counselling. The time spent on procedures ranked first (66 seconds), followed by history taking (65 seconds) and treatment planning (63 seconds). Besides, patients were very active in the consultation, specifically for topics related to medicine ordering and drug costs.ConclusionsThis study described the profile of GP consultations and illustrated the complexity of care provided by GPs in China. As patient activation in GP consultations becomes increasingly important, future studies need to explore how to promote the engagement of patients in the whole consultation process other than just requesting for medicine.© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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