Assessment of specific communicative items and relative risk (RR) of poor quality for different triage professionals
| Communicative items (AQTT) | Triage professional | N/A (%) | Poor quality (1 or 2) | Good quality (4 or 5) | ||
| % (n) | RR (95% CI) | RR* (95% CI) | % (n) | |||
| 12: Gives the caller sufficient time and space to describe the situation† | All | 0.1 | 13.5 (174) | 59.1 (764) | ||
| GP | 0.2 | 14.2 (60) | 1 | 1 | 60.2 (254) | |
| Nurse | 0.0 | 9.8 (42) | 0.69 (0.47 to 1.00)‡ | 0.67 (0.43 to 1.06) | 63.5 (273) | |
| Physician | 0.0 | 16.3 (72) | 1.15 (0.84 to 1.57) | 1.12 (0.79 to 1.62) | 53.7 (237) | |
| 13: Conducts the conversation in understandable language adapted to the caller’s situation† | All | 0.1 | 8.0 (103) | 74.3 (961) | ||
| GP | 0.2 | 5.5 (23) | 1 | 1 | 78.0 (329) | |
| Nurse | 0.0 | 5.1 (22) | 0.94 (0.53 to 1.66) | 0.82 (0.44 to 1.55) | 79.8 (343) | |
| Physician | 0.0 | 13.2 (58) | 2.41 (1.52 to 3.84)‡ | 2.26 (1.40 to 3.67)‡ | 65.5 (289) | |
| 14: Ensures that the triage decision and the advice given are understandable and feasible | All | 2.0 | 7.4 (94) | 52.4 (665) | ||
| GP | 1.4 | 7.4 (31) | 1 | 1 | 53.5 (223) | |
| Nurse | 3.7 | 6.0 (25) | 0.81 (0.49 to 1.35) | 0.83 (0.44 to 1.58) | 53.4 (221) | |
| Physician | 0.9 | 8.7 (38) | 1.17 (0.74 to 1.84) | 1.18 (0.70 to 1.99) | 50.6 (221) | |
| 15: Ensures that the caller agrees on the triage decision and advice given and is accommodating in case of disagreement† | All | 7.0 | 10.1 (121) | 48.9 (588) | ||
| GP | 8.0 | 7.8 (30) | 1 | 1 | 49.6 (193) | |
| Nurse | 8.4 | 8.9 (35) | 1.15 (0.72 to 1.84) | 0.97 (0.58 to 1.65) | 51.3 (202) | |
| Physician | 4.8 | 13.3 (56) | 1.73 (1.13 to 2.64)‡ | 1.59 (1.03 to 2.45)‡ | 46.0 (193) | |
| 16: Structures the conversation† | All | 4.2 | 25.0 (310) | 44.4 (551) | ||
| GP | 6.2 | 21.2 (84) | 1 | 1 | 48.4 (192) | |
| Nurse | 2.3 | 21.9 (92) | 1.04 (0.80 to 1.35) | 0.87 (0.66 to 1.15) | 49.3 (207) | |
| Physician | 4.1 | 31.7 (134) | 1.50 (1.18 to 1.90)‡ | 1.40 (1.11 to 1.78)‡ | 35.9 (152) | |
| 17: Masters suitable questioning techniques (including suitable use of open-ended, closed-ended and non-leading questions)† | All | 0.8 | 27.7 (355) | 35.5 (455) | ||
| GP | 1.2 | 27.3 (114) | 1 | 1 | 34.0 (142) | |
| Nurse | 0.7 | 21.1 (90) | 0.77 (0.61 to 0.98)‡ | 0.69 (0.53 to 0.90)‡ | 41.5 (177) | |
| Physician | 0.7 | 34.5 (151) | 1.26 (1.03 to 1.55)‡ | 1.21 (0.98 to 1.48) | 31.1 (136) | |
| 18: Summarises (if relevant), verifies and adjusts if needed† | All | 11.8 | 30.5 (348) | 28.7 (328) | ||
| GP | 16.1 | 33.0 (117) | 1 | 1 | 25.4 (90) | |
| Nurse | 9.3 | 21.0 (82) | 0.64 (0.50 to 0.81)‡ | 0.62 (0.47 to 0.82)‡ | 35.9 (140) | |
| Physician | 10.0 | 37.5 (149) | 1.14 (0.94 to 1.38) | 1.13 (0.92 to 1.38) | 24.7 (98) | |
| 19: Pays attention to the caller’s experience and situation† | All | 12.2 | 24.4 (277) | 38.0 (432) | ||
| GP | 13.5 | 25.7 (94) | 1 | 1 | 40.4 (148) | |
| Nurse | 11.2 | 17.0 (65) | 0.66 (0.50 to 0.88)‡ | 0.61 (0.44 to 0.84)‡ | 40.6 (155) | |
| Physician | 12.0 | 30.4 (118) | 1.18 (0.94 to 1.49) | 1.13 (0.88 to 1.45) | 33.3 (129) | |
| 20: Conducts the conversation in an accommodating and friendly tone† | All | 0.2 | 5.2 (67) | 70.6 (912) | ||
| GP | 0.0 | 2.8 (12) | 1 | 1 | 73.3 (310) | |
| Nurse | 0.2 | 4.7 (20) | 1.64 (0.81 to 3.32) | 1.30 (0.51 to 3.31) | 74.1 (318) | |
| Physician | 0.5 | 8.0 (35) | 2.81 (1.48 to 5.34)‡ | 2.31 (1.02 to 5.24)‡ | 64.7 (284) | |
Percent rated as poor quality (ie, rated ‘1’ or ‘2’) and ‘good quality’ (ie, rated ‘4’ or ‘5’) are percentages of these rates of all calls in which the item was relevant (ie, ‘not applicable’ excluded)
*RR of poor quality adjusted for evaluator background (GPC, MH-1813) (ie, if call is assessed by an assessor with the same professional background and organisation (similar-to-me)) and the uneven constitution of assessors (assessors from GPC:MH-1813 – 16:8).
†Indicates a significant difference (p<0.05) in the risk of poor quality between all three groups of triage professional, using χ2 test.
‡Significant difference (p<0.05) from reference group GP, using binomial regression.
GP, general practitioner; RR, relative risk of poor outcome (95% CI) compared with GP triage.