Characteristics of the Clinical Encounters
| Variable | Level of Deprivation | Effect Size (Cohen’s d) | P Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low Mean (SD) | High Mean (SD) | |||
| GP verbal communication | ||||
| Patient-centered score total | 1.42 (0.45) | 1.27 (0.49) | 0.319 | .02 |
| Component 1: Exploring both disease and illness experience | 0.28 (0.13) | 0.25 (0.13) | 0.231 | .08 |
| Component 3: Understanding of the whole person | 0.34 (0.38) | 0.29 (0.38) | 0.132 | .22 |
| Component 3: Finding common ground | 0.81 (0.14) | 0.72 (0.18) | 0.559 | <.001 |
| GP nonverbal communication | ||||
| Smiles | 0.38 (.65) | 0.29 (0.58) | 0.146 | .20 |
| Supportive facial expressions | 1.78 (1.76) | 1.27 (1.41) | 0.357 | .04 |
| GP Head nods | 6.05 (5.53) | 4.05 (5.88) | 0.350 | .08 |
| GP seconds looking at patient | 21.51 (9.10) | 17.94 (10.23) | 0.369 | .01 |
| GP seconds looking at computer | 6.18 (8.81) | 9.63 (10.62) | −0.353 | .02 |
| Consultation length and continuity | ||||
| Length of consultation (minutes) | 9.24 (4.17) | 9.17 (4.11) | 0.017 | .90 |
| How well patient knows GP | 3.48 (1.29) | 4.04 (1.03) | −0.085 | .001 |
| Empathy and enablement | ||||
| Patients’ score of GP empathy (CARE Measure) | 4.50 (0.62) | 4.34 (0.66) | 0.250 | .02 |
| Patient enablement (PEI) | 4.62 (3.29) | 4.28 (3.45) | 0.101 | .20 |
CARE = consultation and relational empathy; GP = general practitioner; PEI = patient enablement instrument.
Note: P values for differences between areas of deprivation are extracted from multi-level linear regression models that include fixed effects for age and sex and a random effect for GP level.