SynthesisFamily practice2020
Barriers and facilitators to GP-patient communication about emotional concerns in UK primary care: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Family practice, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Identification and Management of Binge-Eating Disorder and Bulimia Nervosa in Primary Care Settings: A Qualitative Systematic Review of Healthcare Professionals' and Patients' Perceptions.The International journal of eating disorders · 2026Pooled it
- Non-pharmacological treatment of anxiety in general practice: a scoping review.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- Facilitators of good consultations in primary health care clinics in Botswana: a qualitative study of patients' and doctors' views.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- Registered nurse-patient communication and decision-making in primary care consultations: a scoping review.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- Can Adhering to Clinical Communication Guidelines Promote Trust, Liking and Respect for General Practitioners and Willingness to Discuss Depression? A Theory-Based Test.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Antidepressant discontinuation in France from an intersectional perspective: a discrete-time survival analysis within the MAIHDA framework.BMC public health · 2026Article
- 'Taking Time' - Extended mental health consultations in a deprived urban general practice: A retrospective descriptive study.PloS one · 2026Article
- "International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2025Article
- Perception gaps between healthcare professionals and people with CLBP: an online survey of current primary care management practices in the United Kingdom.Annals of medicine · 2025Article
- The COMCARE Framework for Person-Centred Communication-A Practical Caring Framework.Scandinavian journal of caring sciences · 2025Article
- Patient-Registered Nurse Communication: Exploring Patients' Expectations and Experience in Primary Care Consultations.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025Observational
- Conveying the need for mental healthcare - a qualitative study of how patients communicate mental health challenges.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Factors associated with unvoiced concerns of patients attributed to embarrassment, modesty or a fear of being judged.BMC primary care · 2025Observational
- Discussing poverty within primary care consultations: implications for mental health support.BJGP open · 2025Article
- Japanese family physicians' attitudes, difficulties, and perceived significance in managing mental health problems: A qualitative study.Journal of general and family medicine · 2025Article
- Screening for Depression and Anxiety Using a Nonverbal Working Memory Task in a Sample of Older Brazilians: Observational Study of Preliminary Artificial Intelligence Model Transferability.JMIR formative research · 2024Observational
- How patients experience discussing couple relationship problems with GPs: an interview study.BJGP open · 2024Article
- Engagement with emotional concerns in general practice: a thematic analysis of GP consultations.BJGP open · 2024Article
- The patient's first point of contact (PINPOINT) - protocol of a prospective multicenter study of communication and decision-making during patient assessments by primary care registered nurses.BMC primary care · 2023Article
- Meta-review of the barriers and facilitators to women accessing perinatal mental healthcare.BMJ open · 2023Review
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.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn the UK, general practitioners (GPs) are the most commonly used providers of care for emotional concerns.
objectiveTo update and synthesize literature on barriers and facilitators to GP-patient communication about emotional concerns in UK primary care.
designSystematic review and qualitative synthesis.
methodWe conducted a systematic search on MEDLINE (OvidSP), PsycInfo and EMBASE, supplemented by citation chasing. Eligible papers focused on how GPs and adult patients in the UK communicated about emotional concerns. Results were synthesized using thematic analysis.
resultsAcross 30 studies involving 342 GPs and 720 patients, four themes relating to barriers were: (i) emotional concerns are difficult to disclose; (ii) tension between understanding emotional concerns as a medical condition or arising from social stressors; (iii) unspoken assumptions about agency resulting in too little or too much involvement in decisions and (iv) providing limited care driven by little time. Three facilitative themes were: (v) a human connection improves identification of emotional concerns and is therapeutic; (vi) exploring, explaining and negotiating a shared understanding or guiding patients towards new understandings and (vii) upfront information provision and involvement manages expectations about recovery and improves engagement in treatment.
conclusionThe findings suggest that treatment guidelines should acknowledge: the therapeutic value of a positive GP-patient relationship; that diagnosis is a two-way negotiated process rather than an activity strictly in the doctor's domain of expertise; and the value of exploring and shaping new understandings about patients' emotional concerns and their management.
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.