OBJECTIVE: To relate specifically defined 'good consultations' (GC) to length of consultation, continuity, patients' age and sex, and different doctors. DESIGN: A questionnaire about consultation length, communication and problem character, given to doctors and patients immediately after consultations. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The number of GCs for different doctors in relation to time, continuity, and patients' age and sex were calculated. SETTING: 581 consultations were registered with six male general practitioners working at three different health centres in Umeå, a university town in northern Sweden. RESULTS: A significant difference in the number of GCs was only found between the doctors (p < 0.01). Length of consultation, patients' age and sex, and continuity and no impact on the GC frequency. CONCLUSION: The doctor as a person and his working style is most important in achieving good consultations in general practice. Length of consultation is less influential.
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Andersson et al. (1994) studied this question.