ArticleBMC family practice2014
"Doctor, please tell me it's nothing serious": an exploration of patients' worrying and reassuring cognitions using stimulated recall interviews.
Article in BMC family practice, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Trial
- Validation of the generic medical interview satisfaction scale: the G-MISS questionnaire.Health and quality of life outcomes · 2017Trial
- How Patients' Inquiry Shapes Meaning in Primary Care Consultations: A Qualitative Study Using Own-Point-of-View Video-Stimulated Recall.Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2026Article
- Prenatal electrocardiogram testing and postpartum depression: A population-based cohort study.Obstetric medicine · 2022Article
- Relationship based care - how general practice developed and why it is undermined within contemporary healthcare systems.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2019Article
- Developing skilled doctor-patient communication in the workplace: a qualitative study of the experiences of trainees and clinical supervisors.Advances in health sciences education : theory and practice · 2017Article
- "Medically unexplained" symptoms and symptom disorders in primary care: prognosis-based recognition and classification.BMC family practice · 2017Article
- Healthcare provider and patient perspectives on diagnostic imaging investigations.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2015Article
- 'No need to worry': an exploration of general practitioners' reassuring strategies.BMC family practice · 2014Observational
- Management of nonurgent common gastroenterology referrals using primary care clinical pathways: Clinical outcomes, health care use, and avoided costs.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadienObservational
- Patient's Desire and Preference for Provision of Information Toward Greater Involvement in Shared Care.Saudi journal of medicine & medical sciencesArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMany patients who consult their GP are worried about their health, but there is little empirical data on strategies for effective reassurance. To gain a better understanding of mechanisms for effective patient reassurance, we explored cognitions underlying patients' worries, cognitions underlying reassurance and factors supporting patients' reassuring cognitions.
methodsIn a qualitative study, we conducted stimulated recall interviews with 21 patients of 12 different GPs shortly after their consultation. We selected consultations in which the GPs aimed to reassure worried patients and used their videotaped consultation as a stimulus for the interview. The interviews were analysed with thematic coding and by writing interpretive summaries.
resultsPatients expressed four different core cognitions underlying their concerns: 'I have a serious illness', 'my health problem will have adverse physical effects', 'my treatment will have adverse effects' and 'my health problem will negatively impact my life'. Patients mentioned a range of person-specific and context-specific cognitions as reasons for these core cognitions. Patients described five core reassuring cognitions: 'I trust my doctor's expertise', 'I have a trusting and supporting relationship with my doctor', 'I do not have a serious disease', 'my health problem is harmless' and 'my health problem will disappear.' Factors expressed as reasons for these reassuring cognitions were GPs' actions during the consultation as well as patients' pre-existing cognitions about their GP, the doctor-patient relationship and previous events. Patients' worrying cognitions were counterbalanced by specific reassuring cognitions, i.e. worrying and reassuring cognitions seemed to be interrelated.
conclusionsPatients described a wide range of worrying cognitions, some of which were not expressed during the consultation. Gaining a thorough understanding of the specific cognitions and tailoring reassuring strategies to them should be an effective way of achieving reassurance. The identified reassuring cognitions can guide doctors in applying these strategies in their daily practice.
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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.