What is the yield from asking, at the end of the consultation, if there are any further questions? An observational study.
OBJECTIVE
I set out to determine how often families, when invited, have further questions at the end of a general paediatric consultation and to determine the nature of such questions.


RESULTS
Over a 2 1/2 -y period, there were 64 further questions arising from a total of 477 consultations (13%).


CONCLUSIONS
Inviting questions is worthwhile; two-thirds of the responses provided evidence that there had been suboptimal communication during the consultation.
Department of Child Health, Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust, London, United Kingdom. blloyd@rfc.ucl.ac.uk
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D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D003933:Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D019370:Observation; D010372:Pediatrics; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D006113:United Kingdom