Characteristics of patients whose tapes were analysed and consultations
| Telephone (%) | Face to face (%) | p Value for difference | |
| Female | 28 (62) | 38 (68) | 0.70 |
| Age | |||
| 0–5 | 4 (9) | 5 (8) | 0.70 |
| 6–15 | 5 (11) | 1 (2) | |
| 15–65 | 27 (57) | 41 (70) | |
| >65 | 11 (23) | 12 (20) | |
| Total | 47 | 59 | |
| Characteristics of the consultations | Telephone | Face to face | p Value |
| Length of consultation (min (SD)) | 4.6 (5.8) | 9.7 (4.5) | <0.001 |
| Number of problems physical (%) | 50 (94) | 70 (88) | 0.20 |
| Number of problems psychological (%) | 1 (2) | 8 (10) | |
| Number of problems social (%) | 2 (4) | 2 (2) | |
| Number of problems discussed | |||
| 1 | 39 (85) | 29 (49) | <0.001 |
| 2 | 5 (11) | 15 (25) | |
| 3 | 2 (4) | 13 (22) | |
| 4 | 0 (0) | 2 (3) | |
| Doctor rather than patient initiated (%) | 2 (4) | 12 (20) | 0.039 |
| Main problem new rather than follow-up (%) | 31 (70) | 27 (48) | 0.042 |