Visit characteristics: N = 238. Median (IQR) visit length in minutes was 29.2 (5.2 to 97.3).
| CHARACTERISTIC | N (%) |
|---|---|
| No. of decisions per visit* | |
| • 1–2 | 88 (37) |
| • 3–4 | 81 (34) |
| • 5–10 | 69 (29) |
| Reason for visit | |
| • Checkup or regular preventive care | 163 (69) |
| • Medical reasons | 75 (32) |
| -1 | 49 (65) |
| -Several | 26 (35) |
| Visit included ≥ 1 decisions to ...† | |
| • Begin something | 187 (79) |
| • Continue something | 174 (73) |
| • Do nothing | 45 (19) |
| • Postpone the decision | 41 (17) |
| • Take action later‡ | 23 (10) |
| • Stop something | 21 (9) |
| Visit included ≥ 1 decisions about ...† | |
| • Treatment options (medical or surgical) | 169 (71) |
| • Screening tests | 93 (39) |
| • Diagnostic tests | 87 (37) |
| • Follow-up of tests or treatment given or prescribed | 87 (37) |
| • Following and watching something | 69 (29) |
| • Treatment plan (discussion of lifestyle changes) | 49 (21) |
| • Referral to another specialist | 36 (15) |
| • Referral to an allied health professional | 31 (13) |
| Patient knows health professional | |
| • Yes, the patient recalled having seen this professional before | 179 (75) |
| • No, the patient did not recall having seen this professional before | 59 (25) |
| Risk communication | |
| • No | 35 (15) |
| • Yes | 203 (85) |
| -Yes, in words without numbers | 165 (81) |
| -Yes, in numbers | 38 (19) |
| —Numbers were probabilities | 23 (61) |
| —Other type of numbers | 15 (39) |
| Values clarification | |
| • No | 76 (32) |
| • Yes | 162 (68) |
| -Yes, clinician asks a question | 97 (60) |
| -Yes, clinician makes a statement that invites a response | 1 (1) |
| -Yes, patient initiates the discussion | 64 (40) |
IQR—interquartile range.
↵* Categories reflect distribution within our study and clinician team members’ assessments of meaningful differences.
↵† These categories are not mutually exclusive.
↵‡ A decision was made to take action at a subsequent visit (eg, a decision to have a Papanicolaou test at the next visit).