The pre-QOF trend for other types of consultations was increasing, at 2.61 (95% CI 2.53 to 2.69) per annum for people with SMI and 1.01 (95% CI 0.95 to 1.07) for controls (coefficients across models statistically different, p<0.001).
Costs associated only with spinal pain, which included the costs of the medical osteopathy consultations, were increased.
Second, the concentration effect related to GP consultation was increased.
After the intervention, the frequency of those who responded that they should include information on OTC use in each consultation was increased compared to baseline in the intervention group, while it was reduced in control group.
When the costs of professional and the costs of diagnostic exams, drugs and other treatments per consultation are increased by 10% during the conversion from PHCCs into FHUs, total costs increase by 5%.
General practitioners report that the length of consultation is increased due to patient questions relevant to information found on the Internet and that patients holding Internet healthcare information have higher expectations [ 36].
Therefore, the necessity and benefits of telephone or internet consultation are increasing.
This finding is in accordance with a study by Wilson et al 26 showing that when the consultation time was increased, advice on smoking cessation, and alcohol reduction was more frequent.
Previous studies reported that there was no association between emergency department admissions for cardiovascular or respiratory disease and proximity to coke works in England [ 18], whereas general practice consultations for respiratory disorders was increased in areas closest to coke works in England [ 19].
Six out of seven studies demonstrated that there was increased consultation length with increasing patient age [ 27, 30, 37, 41, 43, 52] and one reported changes with patient age that were not linear [ 38].
