Observational studyBMJ open2014
What keeps family physicians busy in Portugal? A multicentre observational study of work other than direct patient contacts.
Observational study in BMJ open, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- International variations in primary care physician consultation time: a systematic review of 67 countries.BMJ open · 2017Pooled it
- Addressing Bureaucratic Burdens on the Portuguese National Health Service: A Simplification Experience Aiming for Value-Based Healthcare.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Activities of the oral health teams in primary health care: a time-motion study.BMC health services research · 2024Observational
- Access to General Practitioners during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal: a nationwide survey of doctors.BMC primary care · 2023Article
- Access to General Practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal-A survey study of patient experiences in an urban setting.PloS one · 2023Article
- Good versus poor prescribers: the comparison of prescribing competencies in primary care.Primary health care research & development · 2022Article
- Awareness about barriers to medication adherence in cardiovascular patients and strategies used in clinical practice by Portuguese clinicians: a nationwide study.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2021Review
- Job satisfaction of general practitioners: a cross-sectional survey in 34 countries.Human resources for health · 2021Article
- The association between the workload of general practitioners and patient experiences with care: results of a cross-sectional study in 33 countries.Human resources for health · 2020Article
- Workload in Norwegian general practice 2018 - an observational study.BMC health services research · 2019Observational
- Participation in medical activities beyond standard consultations by Swiss general practitioners: a cross-sectional study.BMC family practice · 2018Article
- Characteristics of Innovators Adopting a National Personal Health Record in Portugal: Cross-Sectional Study.JMIR medical informatics · 2017Article
- Characteristics of ambulatory care visits to family medicine specialists in Taiwan: a nationwide analysis.PeerJ · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo quantify the time spent by family physicians (FP) on tasks other than direct patient contact, to evaluate job satisfaction, to analyse the association between time spent on tasks and physician characteristics, the association between the number of tasks performed and physician characteristics and the association between time spent on tasks and job satisfaction.
designCross-sectional, using time-and-motion techniques. Two workdays were documented by direct observation. A significance level of 0.05 was adopted.
settingMulticentric in 104 Portuguese family practices.
participantsA convenience sample of FP, with lists of over 1000 patients, teaching senior medical students and first-year family medicine residents in 2012, was obtained. Of the 217 FP invited to participate, 155 completed the study. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURED: Time spent on tasks other than direct patient contact and on the performance of more than one task simultaneously, the number of direct patient contacts in the office, the number of indirect patient contacts, job satisfaction, demographic and professional characteristics associated with time spent on tasks and the number of different tasks performed, and the association between time spent on tasks and job satisfaction.
resultsFP (n=155) spent a mean of 143.6 min/day (95% CI 135.2 to 152.0) performing tasks such as prescription refills, teaching, meetings, management and communication with other professionals (33.4% of their workload). FP with larger patient lists spent less time on these tasks (p=0.002). Older FP (p=0.021) and those with larger lists (p=0.011) performed fewer tasks. The mean job satisfaction score was 3.5 (out of 5). No association was found between job satisfaction and time spent on tasks.
conclusionsFP spent one-third of their workday in coordinating care, teaching and managing. Time devoted to these tasks decreases with increasing list size and physician age.
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