Cyber patients cause GPs anxiety

Tags: Government GPs

02 Feb 2010

GPs feel anxious when patients bring information from the internet to a consultation, but are developing strategies to overcome their anxiety, according to a new study.

Research to be published in the February issue of the British Journal of General Practice found GPs “experienced considerable anxiety” when patients brought online information into consultations.

It found their concerns focus on the poor quality of some online information, the time involved in dealing with internet information, and a feeling that their expertise is being challenged.

Lead author Dr Sanjiv Ahluwalia, a GP in Stanmore, said government policy was to encourage self-help among patients and that the internet was increasingly being used for health information.

However, he said there was little research on the role of the internet in the doctor-patient consultation.

The researchers - a multidisciplinary team including two GPs, a sociologist and health service researchers - wrote to all GP practices in north central London, inviting participants for the study.

A total of 11 GPs - including five partners, three locums, and three salaried doctors, of which six were women and five men - were subsequently interviewed. The doctors came from a range of ethnic backgrounds and ages with a median year of qualification of 1989.

The study found that doctors felt uncomfortable when patients initially presented with information from the internet but concluded that the GPs interviewed used “sophisticated mechanisms” for dealing with their emotions.

Approaches adopted including buying time in a consultation, learning from previous consultations and using the internet as an ally by directing patients to particular websites.

The study concluded that social change was leading to a more equitable balance of power between doctors and patients.

The researchers added: “GPs have responded to this shifting balance in power by reshaping their role from gatekeepers of secondary care services to facilitators of information interpretation and decision making, to help patients make informed choices about their journey through the healthcare system.”

They said the strategies adopted by the doctors interviewed could help others struggling with internet-informed patients.

The researchers acknowledged that main problem with the study was the small number of interviewees. However, they said it had not been possible to interview GPs who admitted to strong negative views about patients bringing information from the internet to consultations.

Fiona Barr

Reader's Comments

Pointless

03 Feb 10 16:02

Wow, what a great sample from which to make a headline. 11 GPs out of 36,000 odd. Why does this sort of drivel get any publication time?

research sample does seem incredibly low - even if the conclusion seems intuitively correct

03 Feb 10 16:02

Whilst common sense suggests that the answer to the research question posed is 'self-evident', if we are to encounter research that is worthy of peer review, then let's at least have a slightly bigger sample than 11 out of the total GP population as the previous poster suggests.

One thing is for sure - the genie is out of the bottle as far as folks relying on the internet for health info is concerned - can't row back from that one I'm afraid.

Just a question of how you manage it?

So old its come round again.....

cunpr@globalnet.co.uk

04 Feb 10 08:02

+1 for the two comments so far. This is indeed old news. The BMA published guidance on how to deal with this in 2000? 2001?. We also ran a vigorous medical and public media campaign on teh subject of internet medicine and your GP; articles in Zest, Cosmopolitan, Heat and Red magazines to name but a few. Regards Paul Cundy

The internet as a health aid

08 Feb 10 10:02

As a patient, I find the internet to be a great aid to filling the gaps in the knowledge of the doctors I visit. Most of them are grateful. As a result, I get great service from the NHS, unlike some of my less internet-savvy contemporaries.