Trial reportAnnals of family medicine
Influence of watchful waiting on satisfaction and anxiety among patients seeking care for unexplained complaints.
Trial report in Annals of family medicine. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07158892 (Confirmation of Values and Preferences When Considering a Musculoskeletal Diagnostic Test), which is not on this map. Cited by 21 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Confirmation of Values and Preferences When Considering a Musculoskeletal Diagnostic Test: A Scenario-Based Study
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Psychosocial interventions for conversion and dissociative disorders in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Enhanced care by generalists for functional somatic symptoms and disorders in primary care.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2013Pooled it
- Standardized Patient Communication and Low-Value Spinal Imaging: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2024Trial
- The effect of watchful waiting compared to immediate test ordering instructions on general practitioners' blood test ordering behaviour for patients with unexplained complaints; a randomized clinical trial (ISRCTN55755886).Implementation science : IS · 2012Trial
- Getting to "no": strategies primary care physicians use to deny patient requests.Archives of internal medicine · 2010Trial
- Ordering blood tests for patients with unexplained fatigue in general practice: what does it yield? Results of the VAMPIRE trial.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2009Trial
- Facilitators and barriers to deferring imaging for acute low back pain: a qualitative study.BMC primary care · 2025Article
- GPs' perspectives on diagnostic testing in children with persistent non-specific symptoms: a qualitative study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Article
- Somatoform Disorders in Primary Care-An Exploratory Mixed-Methods Study on Experiences, Challenges and Coping Strategies of General Practitioners in the Federal Republic of Germany.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Coloring complex shapes decreases patient anxiety in three care environments: a pilot study with color analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- GP strategies to avoid imaging overuse. A qualitative study in Norwegian general practice.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2022Article
- Approach to the patient with multiple somatic symptoms.Singapore medical journal · 2021Article
- Watchful waiting as a strategy to reduce low-value spinal imaging: study protocol for a randomized trial.Trials · 2021Article
- Association of Clinician Denial of Patient Requests With Patient Satisfaction.JAMA internal medicine · 2018Article
- Patients with somatoform disorders: More frequent attendance and higher utilization in primary Out-of-Hours care?PloS one · 2018Article
- What happens when the doctor denies a patient's request? A qualitative interview study among general practitioners in Norway.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2017Article
- Symptoms as the main problem: a cross- sectional study of patient experience in primary care.BMC family practice · 2016Article
- 'No need to worry': an exploration of general practitioners' reassuring strategies.BMC family practice · 2014Observational
- The potential impact of pharmacogenetic testing on medication adherence.The pharmacogenomics journal · 2013Article
- S3 Guideline "Management of Patients with Non-Specific, Functional and Somatoform Physical Complaints" - What is Important for Gynaecological Practice?Geburtshilfe und Frauenheilkunde · 2013Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeWe undertook a study to determine whether test-ordering strategy and other consultation-related factors influence satisfaction with and anxiety after a consultation among patients seeking care for unexplained complaints.
methodsA cluster-randomized clinical trial was conducted in family medicine practices in the Netherlands. Participants were 498 patients with unexplained complaints seen by 63 primary care physicians. Physicians either immediately ordered a blood test for patients or followed a 4-week watchful waiting approach. Physicians and patients completed questionnaires asking about their characteristics, satisfaction with care, and anxiety, and aspects of the consultation. The main outcomes were patient satisfaction and anxiety. Data were analyzed by multilevel logistic regression analysis.
resultsPatients were generally satisfied with their consultation and had moderately low anxiety afterward (mean scores on 11-point scales, 7.3 and 3.1, respectively), with no difference between the immediate testing and watchful waiting groups (chi(2) = 2.4 and 0.3, respectively). The factors associated with higher odds of satisfaction were mainly related to physician-patient communication: patients' satisfaction with their physician generally, feeling taken seriously, and knowing the seriousness of complaints afterward; physicians' discussing testing and not considering complaints bearable; and older physician age. The same was true for factors associated with higher odds of anxiety: patients expecting testing or referral, patients not knowing the seriousness of their complaints afterward, and physicians not seeing a cause for alarm.
conclusionsTest-ordering strategy does not influence patients' satisfaction with and anxiety after a consultation. Instead, specific aspects of physician-patient communication are important. Apparently, primary care physicians underestimate how much they can contribute to the well-being of their patients by discussing their worries.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.