ArticleBMC family practice2004
The contribution of demographic and morbidity factors to self-reported visit frequency of patients: a cross-sectional study of general practice patients in Australia.
Article in BMC family practice, 2004. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Bone, muscle, and physical function measures in older adults according to levels of social disadvantage: a cross-sectional study.Archives of osteoporosis · 2026Article
- Determinants of exclusive utilisation of scheduled and unscheduled primary care visits: a cross-sectional study in Portugal.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- Predicting anticipated benefit from an extended consultation to personalise care in multimorbidity: a development and internal validation study of a prioritisation algorithm in general practice.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Article
- Multilevel modeling of geographic variation in general practice consultations.Health services research · 2021Article
- Predicting patient use of general practice services in Australia: models developed using national cross-sectional survey data.BMC family practice · 2019Article
- Longitudinal cohort study describing persistent frequent attenders in Australian primary healthcare.BMJ open · 2015Article
- The productivity and cost-efficiency of models for involving nurse practitioners in primary care: a perspective from queueing analysis.Health services research · 2012Article
- Validating the children's medicines use questionnaire (CMUQ) in Australia.Pharmacy world & science : PWS · 2010Article
- [Frequency of attendance and degree of control of type-2 diabetic patients].Atencion primaria · 2008Article
- Factors influencing the speed of cancer diagnosis in rural Western Australia: a General Practice perspective.BMC family practice · 2007Article
- Management of acute neck pain in general practice: a prospective study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2007Article
- Strengthening Medicare: will increasing the bulk-billing rate and supply of general practitioners increase access to Medicare-funded general practitioner services and does rurality matter?Australia and New Zealand health policy · 2005Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundUnderstanding the factors that affect patients' utilisation of health services is important for health service provision and effective patient management. This study aimed to investigate the specific morbidity and demographic factors related to the frequency with which general practice patients visit a general practitioner/family physician (GP) in Australia.
methodsA sub-study was undertaken as part of an ongoing national study of general practice activity in Australia. A cluster sample of 10,755 general practice patients were surveyed through a random sample of 379 general practitioners. The patient reported the number of times he/she had visited a general practitioner in the previous twelve months. The GP recorded all the patient's major health problems, including those managed at the current consultation.
resultsPatients reported an average of 8.8 visits to a general practitioner per year. After adjusting for other patient demographics and number of health problems, concession health care card holders made on average 2.6 more visits per year to a general practitioner than did non-card holders (p <.001). After adjustment, patients from remote/very remote locations made 2.3 fewer visits per year than patients from locations where services were highly accessible (p <.001). After adjustment for patient demographics, patients with diagnosed anxiety made on average 2.7 more visits per year (p = 0.003), those with diagnosed depression 2.2 more visits than average (p <.0001), and those with back problems 2.4 more visits (p = 0.009) than patients without the respective disorders.
conclusionsAnxiety, back pain and depression are associated with greater patient demand for general practice services than other health problems. The effect of sociodemographic factors on patient utilisation of general practice services is complex. Equity of access to general practice services remains an issue for patients from remote areas, while concession health care card holders are attending general practice more frequently than other patients relative to their number of health problems.
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