Physician-patient questionnaire to assess physician-patient agreement at the consultation

Objective. The primary aim of this study was to validate an instrument of physician-patient agreement in the consultation. A secondary aim was to assess this agreement. Method. The setting was a county in the southwest of Sweden with a cross-sectional survey of primary care patients and physicians using separate coded questionnaires. Forty-six physicians and 316 patients aged 16 or more with a new complaint lasting 1 week or more. Thirteen items were evaluated and index of proportional agreement for the dichotomized answers agree (P-pos) and disagree (P-neg) was calculated. Results. In 10 of the 13 items, a high level of agreement between physician and patient was seen. Discussion. Index of proportional agreement was useful in finding statements in a questionnaire on agreement for both physicians and patients that could be used for educational purposes and as a check-up for the GP in daily practice.