GPs' decision-making--perceiving the patient as a person or a disease.

Background: The aim of this study was to analyse the clinical decision making strategies of GPs with regard to the whole range of problems encountered in everyday work.

Methods: A prospective questionnaire study was carried through, where 16 General practitioners in Sweden registered consecutively 378 problems in 366 patients.

Results: 68.

To make a difference--how GPs conceive consultation outcomes. A phenomenographic study.

Background: Outcomes from GPs' consultations have been measured mainly with disease specific measures and with patient questionnaires about health, satisfaction, enablement and quality. The aim of this study was to explore GPs' conceptions of consultation outcomes.

Methods: Interviews with 17 GPs in groups and individually about consultation outcomes from recently performed consultations were analysed with a phenomenographic research approach.

Concepts underlying outcome measures in studies of consultations in general practice.

Objective: To give an overview of the concepts used to describe and evaluate the outcome of general practice consultations.

Method: A literature study was undertaken. Among 101 articles relevant to the subject 35 were chosen to illustrate the concepts found.

Satisfaction is not all--patients' perceptions of outcome of general practice consultations, a qualitative study.

Background: Evaluation of outcome in general practice can be seen from different viewpoints. In this study we focus on the concepts patients use to describe the outcome of a consultation with a GP.

Method: Patients were interviewed within a week after a consultation with a GP.

[What benefits does the patient gain from consulting the general practitioner? A review of the literature on the impact of consultations].

Curing, relieving and comforting are the central tasks of doctors. However, do we actually perform these tasks? A literature review was carried out to investigate how visits to general practitioners have been evaluated. The review indicates that evaluations have focused mostly on whether the patient was satisfied with the visit, on changes in the patient's health status, on whether the patient's health care consumption has decreased, on whether the patient has complied with advice and prescriptions, and to a lesser degree on enablement.