Table 4

Interrogative series: coding for question activity, design and action

Nurse (%)GP (%)
Activity
Reported symptom
eg, Is he getting more breathless?
32.121.9
Wider information gathering
eg, and have you got a temperature at all do you feel hot?
56.832.5
Eliciting patient's concerns/ideas/expectations
eg, There's no obvious explanation for that?
2.513.1
Medical history
eg, And is there any family history of arthritis of any sort?
8.630.0
Design
Polar questions—interrogative
eg, Has she vomited at all
(Reported symptom and wider-info gathering activities only)
29.9 (25.9)46.3 (26.3)
Polar questions—declarative
eg, And she's weeing okay
(Reported symptom and wider-info gathering activities only)
52.2 (45.4)30.0 (12.5)
Content WH—questions
eg, And when did the tiredness first start
13.318.8
Alternative questions
eg, Is it quite bad or just a little bit of dizziness
4.65.0
Action
Request for confirmation
eg, And you said no discharge and no pain
(Reported symptom and wider-info gathering activities only)
53.7 (46.6)31.9 (13.8)
Request for information
eg, Do you wear glasses or contact lenses?
(Reported symptom and wider-info gathering activities only)
46.0 (42.3)68.1 (40.6)