Observational studyBMC family practice2014
'No need to worry': an exploration of general practitioners' reassuring strategies.
Observational study 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 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.
- Functional Somatic Symptoms.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2019Pooled it
- Trial
- The effect of shared decision-making on recovery from non-chronic aspecific low back pain in primary care; a post-hoc analysis from the patient, physician and observer perspectives.BMC primary care · 2022Trial
- How Uncertainty Is Talked About in Language Discordant and Concordant Health Consultations: Patterns of Epistemic Adverb Use and Communication Accommodation Strategies.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026Article
- Reassurance through normalization inadvertently suppresses treatment.Nature human behaviour · 2026Article
- Patient Engagement in Person-Centered Communication About Medication Adherence: Perspectives From Patients, Next of Kin, and Healthcare Professionals.Patient preference and adherence · 2026Article
- Communicating abnormal cervical cancer screening results - a focus group study with general practitioners in Norway.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2025Article
- Providing recurrence risk counselling for parents after diagnosis of a serious genetic condition caused by an apparently de novo mutation in their child: a qualitative investigation of the PREGCARE strategy with UK clinical genetics practitioners.Journal of medical genetics · 2023Article
- Small Changes in Patient Arrival and Consultation Times Have Large Effects on Patients' Waiting Times: Simulation Analyses for Primary Care.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- An integrative review of the use of the concept of reassurance in clinical practice.Nursing open · 2022Review
- Views of healthcare consumer representatives on defensive practice: 'We are your biggest advocate and supporter… not the enemy'.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2022Article
- A participant perspective on collaborative reflection: video-stimulated interviews show what residents value and why.Advances in health sciences education : theory and practice · 2021Article
- Patients' experiences of the use of point-of-care ultrasound in general practice - a cross-sectional study.BMC family practice · 2021Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn view of the paucity of evidence regarding effective ways of reassuring worried patients, this study explored reassuring strategies that are considered useful by general practitioners (GPs).
methodsIn a study using a qualitative observational design, we re-analysed an existing dataset of fifteen stimulated recall interviews in which GPs elaborated on their communication with patients in two videotaped consultations. Additionally we held stimulated recall interviews with twelve GPs about two consultations selected for a strong focus on reassurance.
resultsTo reassure patients, GPs pursued multiple goals: 1. influencing patients' emotions by promoting trust, safety and comfort, which is considered to be reassuring in itself and supportive of patients' acceptance of reassuring information and 2. influencing patients' cognitions by challenging patients' belief that their symptoms are indicative of serious disease, often followed by promoting patients' belief that their symptoms are benign. GPs described several actions to activate mechanisms to achieve these goals.
conclusionsGPs described a wealth of reassuring strategies, which make a valuable contribution to the current literature on doctor-patient communication. This detailed description may provide practicing GPs with new tools and can inform future studies exploring the effectiveness of reassurance strategies.
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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.