Interruptions during general practice consultations: negative impact on physicians, and patients' indifference.

Background: Interruptions can impact consultation duration, doctors and patients' satisfaction, and quality of care provided. Although most of them seem to have a negative impact, affecting doctor-patient relationship and interfering with clinical reasoning, which increases the risk of error, there is still no evidence on their global impact on consultations.

Objectives: To evaluate the number and duration of interruptions during general practice consultations.