SynthesisBMJ open quality2023
Does the duration of ambulatory consultations affect the quality of healthcare? A systematic review.
Synthesis in BMJ open quality, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effectiveness of shared decision making strategies for stroke prevention among patients with atrial fibrillation: cluster randomized controlled trial.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2025Trial
- Global, multilingual, physician-invited, patient-completed digital registry enabling pre-consultation engagement and supporting more efficient care pathways in venous disease.Scientific reports · 2026Observational
- Physician Consultation Time and Perceived Quality of Outpatient Care for New Cancer Patients in Korea: An Experimental Vignette Survey of the General Public and Physicians.Journal of Korean medical science · 2026Article
- Global health worker visit time variation: A systematic review.Health policy OPEN · 2026Article
- Is 10 minutes sufficient? Follow-up consultation in Ecuadorian Social Security health systems.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- "The doctor will see you now… but not for long": Linking physicians' racial attitudes and patients' discrimination experiences to racial disparities in the duration of medical consultations.Patient education and counseling · 2025Article
- Article
- Antenatal care quality and detection of risk among pregnant women: An observational study in Ethiopia, India, Kenya, and South Africa.PLoS medicine · 2024Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe objective is to examine and synthesise the best available experimental evidence about the effect of ambulatory consultation duration on quality of healthcare.
methodsWe included experimental studies manipulating the length of outpatient clinical encounters between adult patients and clinicians (ie, therapists, pharmacists, nurses, physicians) to determine their effect on quality of care (ie, effectiveness, efficiency, timeliness, safety, equity, patient-centredness and patient satisfaction). INFORMATION SOURCES: Using controlled vocabulary and keywords, without restriction by language or year of publication, we searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Database of Systematic Reviews and Scopus from inception until 15 May 2023. RISK OF BIAS: Cochrane Risk of Bias instrument. DATA SYNTHESIS: Narrative synthesis.
results11 publications of 10 studies explored the relationship between encounter duration and quality. Most took place in the UK's general practice over two decades ago. Study findings based on very sparse and outdated evidence-which suggested that longer consultations improved indicators of patient-centred care, education about prevention and clinical referrals; and that consultation duration was inconsistently related to patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes-warrant low confidence due to limited protections against bias and indirect applicability to current practice.
conclusionExperimental evidence for a minimal or optimal duration of an outpatient consultation is sparse and outdated. To develop evidence-based policies and practices about encounter length, randomised trials of different consultation lengths-in person and virtually, and with electronic health records-are needed. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: OSF Registration DOI:10.17605/OSF.IO/EUDK8.
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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.