Spontaneous talking time at start of consultation in outpatient clinic: cohort study

Abstract

The average patient visiting a doctor in the United States gets 22 seconds for his initial statement, then the doctor takes the lead. 1 This style of communication is probably based on the assumption that patients will mess up the time schedule if allowed to talk as long as they wish to. But for how long do patients actually talk, at least initially? We found only one study, from a neurological practice, investigating this question. 2 The author reported one minute and 40 seconds. We examined how long it would take outpatients at a tertiary referral centre to indicate that they have completed their story-for example, with a statement such as: "That's all, doctor!" if uninterrupted by their doctors.