Trial reportThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2015
Randomised controlled trial of a brief intervention targeting predominantly non-verbal communication in general practice consultations.
Trial report in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
29 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 76 citations in OpenAlex.
- Can Patient-Provider Interpersonal Interventions Achieve the Quadruple Aim of Healthcare? A Systematic Review.Journal of general internal medicine · 2020Pooled it
- Effects of empathic and positive communication in healthcare consultations: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine · 2018Pooled it
- How empathic is your healthcare practitioner? A systematic review and meta-analysis of patient surveys.BMC medical education · 2017Pooled it
- Trial
- Empathic Communication in Specialty Palliative Care Encounters: An Analysis of Opportunities and Responses.Journal of palliative medicine · 2022Trial
- Trial
- Exploring factors that influence patient satisfaction in genetic counseling: a post-hoc qualitative analysis of perceived empathy by patients with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer in Japan.Journal of community genetics · 2026Article
- Article
- Adaptation of the Consultation and Relational Empathy Measure to Turkish.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Developing a veterinary professional "identity": first year veterinary students' perspectives on how they describe themselves now and as future veterinarians: 2017-2024.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2025Article
- Enhancing provider-patient connection through low-effort interventions: a scoping review protocol.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Patient-resident physician communication - a qualitative study to assess the current state, challenges and possible solutions.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Article
- Just do it! Ten easy ways to enhance empathy in the consultation.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Article
- Validity and reliability of the Japanese version of the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ-J) for evaluating oncologist consultations.PEC innovation · 2023Article
- More Than Just an Entertainment Show: Identification of Medical Clowns' Communication Skills and Therapeutic Goals.Qualitative health research · 2023Article
- Understanding the User's Point of View: When the Doctor Gets Sick with Cancer and Seeks Help.Clinical practice and epidemiology in mental health : CP & EMH · 2023Article
- Empathy in patient-clinician interactions when using telecommunication: A rapid review of the evidence.PEC innovation · 2022Review
- Undergraduate medical teaching with remote consultations in general practice: a realist evaluation.BJGP open · 2022Article
- Exploring patient views of empathic optimistic communication for osteoarthritis in primary care: a qualitative interview study using vignettes.BJGP open · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe impact of changing non-verbal consultation behaviours is unknown.
aimTo assess brief physician training on improving predominantly non-verbal communication. DESIGN AND
settingCluster randomised parallel group trial among adults aged ≥16 years attending general practices close to the study coordinating centres in Southampton.
methodSixteen GPs were randomised to no training, or training consisting of a brief presentation of behaviours identified from a prior study (acronym KEPe Warm: demonstrating Knowledge of the patient; Encouraging [back-channelling by saying 'hmm', for example]; Physically engaging [touch, gestures, slight lean]; Warm-up: cool/professional initially, warming up, avoiding distancing or non-verbal cut-offs at the end of the consultation); and encouragement to reflect on videos of their consultation. Outcomes were the Medical Interview Satisfaction Scale (MISS) mean item score (1-7) and patients' perceptions of other domains of communication.
resultsIntervention participants scored higher MISS overall (0.23, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.06 to 0.41), with the largest changes in the distress-relief and perceived relationship subscales. Significant improvement occurred in perceived communication/partnership (0.29, 95% CI = 0.09 to 0.49) and health promotion (0.26, 95% CI = 0.05 to 0.46). Non-significant improvements occurred in perceptions of a personal relationship, a positive approach, and understanding the effects of the illness on life.
conclusionBrief training of GPs in predominantly non-verbal communication in the consultation and reflection on consultation videotapes improves patients' perceptions of satisfaction, distress, a partnership approach, and health promotion.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.