Face-to-face and telephone appointments in the seizure clinic: A comparative analysis based on recorded interactions

Objective

Telephone appointments are now widely used in seizure treatment, but there is little understanding of how they compare to face-to-face appointments. Studies from other fields suggest that comparisons can be done on three levels: 1) Abstract level: duration of appointment.

2) Structural level: distribution of talk. 3) Detailed level: aspects of communication. This study aims to compare seizure clinic face-to-face and telephone appointments based on their duration, distribution of talk, and the number of questions asked by patients/companions.

Methods

Statistical comparison between recordings and transcripts of 34 telephone appointments (recorded in 2021) and 56 face-to-face appointments (recorded in 2013).

Results

There was no significant difference between the duration of face-to-face (median: 16.5 min) and telephone appointments (median: 16.2 min). There was no significant difference in the ratio of neurologist to patient/companion talk (face-to-face: 55% vs. 45%, telephone: 54% vs. 46%). Patients/companions asked significantly more questions per minute in face-to-face (median: 0.17) than telephone appointments (median: 0.06, p < 0.05).

Conclusion

At a broad level, seizure clinic face-to-face and telephone appointments are similar. Examining the details of the interaction, however, reveals important differences in questioning.

Practice implications

Practitioners could take steps to facilitate patient questioning in telephone appointments.