Even if they are not aware of it, general practitioners improve well-being in their adolescent patients

Figures & data

Table

Q1: Adolescent questionnaire before consultation		Q2: Adolescent questionnaire after consultation		Q3: GP questionnaire after consultation
Health status
At the moment, …				At the moment, I think that this adolescent…
I feel in very poor health		I feel in very good health		feels he/she is in very poor health	feels he/she is in very good health
Can talk to
At the moment, if I have a problem or a worry, …				At the moment, if the adolescent has a problem or a worry, I think he/she …
I will be able to talk about it very easily		I will not be able to talk about it at all		will find it easy to talk about it	will be unable to talk about it
Someone to confide in
At the moment, if I have a problem or a worry, …				At the moment, if the adolescent has a problem or a worry, I think he/she …
I really have no-one I can confide in		I always have someone I can confide in		has really no-one to confide in	always has someone to confide in
Feeling understood
Generally, if I talk about my problems or my worries, …		During this consultation, I felt that…		During this consultation I think this adolescent did not feel that he/she…
I do not feel understood at all	I feel perfectly understood	I was not at all understood	I was perfectly understood	was at all understood	felt perfectly well understood
Liking music
Generally, …
I really like to listen to music		I really do not like to listen to music
Expectations
		This consultation lived up to my expectations		I think this consultation lived up to this adolescent's expectations.
		No, not at all	Yes, completely	No, not at all	Yes, completely

Table 1. Demographic data of adolescents. One adolescent did not fill in his gender. We excluded this result in the gender comparisons, but we included it in the others analyses.

	All adolescent patients n = 664	No difficulties (N) group n = 517	Difficulties (D) group n = 147	P
F (%)	395 (59.5)	290 (56.0)	105 (71.4)	0.0008^a
Age: mean (min–max)	16.0 (12–20)	15.9 (12–20)	16.3 (12–20)	0.026^a

^a χ² test.

Figure 1. Flow chart.

Table 2. Variations in adolescents’ feelings before and after consultation, according to groups experiencing difficulties (D) versus not experiencing difficulties (N).

	Before consultation			After consultation			Evolution of the groups
	N	D		N	D		N	Intra group	D	Intra group	Between groups age/sex adjusted
	n = 518	n = 147	P	n = 518	n = 147	P	n = 518	P	n = 147	P	P
Feeling good health status	69 (26) [66; 71]	54 (27) [50; 59]	<0.0001^a	74 (22) [72; 76]	66 (23) [63; 70]	0.0004^a	5 (19 [4; 7])	<0.0001^b	12 (24) [8; 16]	<0.0001^b	0.0008^b
Being able to talk about problems	66 (26) [64; 69]	52 (28) [47; 56]	<0.0001^a	74 (23) [72; 76]	68 (24) [64; 72]	0.0027^a	8 (20) [6; 9]	<0.0001^b	16 (25) [12; 20]	<0.0001^b	<0.0001^b
Having someone to confide in	81 (21) [79; 83]	67 (28) [63; 72]	<0.0001^a	82 (19) [81; 84]	75 (22) [71; 79]	<0.0001^a	1 (17) [0; 3]	0.42^b	8 (19) [4; 11]	<0.0001^b	0.0003^b
Feeling understood	70 (22) [68; 72]	54 (27) [49; 58]	<0.0001^a	85 (16) [83; 86]	77 (21) [73; 80]	<0.0001^a	15 (21) [13; 16]	<0.0001^b	23 (23) [19; 27]	<0.0001^b	<0.0001^b
Liking music	88 (18) [87; 90]	88 (18) [85; 91]	0.44^a	89 (16) [88; 90]	89 (16) [86; 92]	0.87^a	1 (10) [0; 2]	0.60^b	1 (13) [-1; 3]	0.46^b	0.50^b

N = no difficulties group; D = difficulties group. Results on visual analogue scales ranging between 0 and 100 are presented as mean (standard deviation) and [95% confidence limits].

The higher VAS score is considered as ‘better’ score.

^a Non-parametric Mann–Whitney test.

^b Paired Wilcoxon test.

Table 3. Differences between general practitioners’ representations and adolescents’ feelings.

		N n = 518	Intra group P	D n = 147	Intra group P	Inter-group age/sex adjusted P
Feeling good health status
Adolescent	I feel in very poor health//in very good health	–3 (24) [–5; –1]	0.0025^a	–9 (26) [–13; –4]	<0.0001^a	0.016^a
GP	I think that this adolescent feels he/she is in very poor//very good/health
Being able to talk about problems
Adolescent	I can talk about any problems I may have	2 (25) [–1; +4]	0.51^a	4 (26) [0; +9]	0.080^a	0.35^a
GP	I think that now if this teenager has a problem he/she will be able to talk about it
Having someone to confide in
Adolescent	I have someone to confide in if I have a problem	–5 (22) [–7; –3]	<0.0001^a	–3 (24) [–7; +1]	0.078^a	0.27^a
GP	I think that now if this teenager has a problem or worry he/she will be able to confide in someone
Feeling understood
Adolescent	During this consultation, I felt I was understood	–6 (19) [–8; –4]	<0.0001^a	–5 (21) [–8; –1]	0.0005^a	0.46^a
GP	During this consultation, I think the teenager felt he/she was understood
Expectations
Adolescent	This consultation lived up to my expectations	–7 (20) [–9; –5]	<0.0001^a	–6 (19) [–9; –3]	0.0001^a	0.52^a
GP	I think that this consultation lived up to this teenager's expectations.

N = no difficulties group; D = difficulties group. Figures are means (standard deviations) and [95% confidence limits] of differences between paired VAS ratings of the adolescent and the GP. A negative mean value indicates a lower rating by the GP than by the adolescent himself.

^a Paired Wilcoxon test.