Figure 2. Diagnoses made
Across both groups, specialty registrars were significantly more likely to refer patients for vestibular physiotherapy, 9/33 (27%) of the time vs. 3/52(6%) of the time for consultants (p=0.0091). Whilst consultants, were significantly less likely to request any investigations for patients in the QG 2/20 (10%) versus 14/30 (47%) in the NQG, p=0.0055). The difference in likelihood of requesting an investigation was not observed in the specialty registrar consultations. There were no differences in observed outcomes in either group between specialty registrars and consultants when it came to making a diagnosis, requesting additional face-to-face appointments, discharging patients and requesting telephone follow-up.
Sixteen patients who received and returned a completed questionnaire 16/35 (46%) found the questionnaire a positive addition to their consultation, 3/35 (9%) did not find it a positive addition and 16/35 (46%) were unsure. The clinicians found the questionnaire helped the consultation 24/35 (69%) of the time and thought that in 22/35 (63%) of cases, they would have found the questionnaire helpful even in a pre-COVID19, face-to-face consultation.