Characteristics of Clinical Encounters
| Low Deprivation (n=303) | High Deprivation (n=356) | Multilevel Regression (Effect of MM on Consultation Variables) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variables | Without MM (n=171) | With MM (n=132) | Without MM (n=149) | With MM (n=207) | Low Deprivation (95% CI) | High Deprivation (95% CI) | Difference P Value |
| Physician empathy (CARE), score | 44.0 (6.6) | 46.3 (5.4) | 43.6 (6.8) | 43.3 (6.5) | 1.9 (0.05 to 0.34)a | −0.07 (−0.20 to 0.07) | .010a |
| Consultation length, min | 9.34 (10.55) | 12.79 (17.70) | 9.96 (13.40) | 9.94 (9.73) | 3.69 0.73 to 6.65)b | 0.36 (−2.39 to 3.10) | .100 |
| Physician patient centeredness, score | |||||||
| Patient centeredness (global), MPCC | 1.43 (0.43) | 1.40 (0.48) | 1.27 (0.46) | 1.26 (0.51) | −0.04 (−0.15 to 0.06) | −0.02 (−0.12 to 0.07) | .774 |
| Component 1 (disease and illness experience) | 0.27 (0.13) | 0.30 (0.13) | 0.25 (0.11) | 0.26 (0.14) | 0.03 (0.00 to 0.06)b | 0.00 (−0.02 to 0.03) | .170 |
| Component 2 (understanding the whole person) | 0.36 (0.37) | 0.31 (0.38) | 0.30 (0.38) | 0.27 (0.38) | −0.06 (−0.14 to 0.03) | −0.03 (−0.11 to 0.05) | .680 |
| Component 3 (finding common ground) | 0.82 (0.14) | 0.81 (0.14) | 0.72 (0.17) | 0.73 (0.18) | −0.01 (−0.04 to 0.03) | 0.01 (−0.03 to 0.04) | .584 |
CARE = Consultation and Relational Empathy; MM = multimorbidity; MPCC = Measure of Patient–Centered Communication.
Note: Results are presented as means and standard deviations for continuous variables; and counts and percentages for categorical variables. Multilevel regression coefficients are presented with a 95% CI. P value for difference on the effects of multimorbidity between areas of deprivation are extracted from multilevel linear or logistic regression models that include fixed effects for patient age and sex and a random effect for general practitioner level.
↵a P <.01.
↵b P <.05.