ReviewAnnals of family medicine
Interpersonal continuity of care and care outcomes: a critical review.
Review in Annals of family medicine. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 279 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
279 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 606 citations in OpenAlex.
- Personal GP continuity improves healthcare outcomes in primary care populations: a systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Pooled it
- Midwife continuity of care models versus other models of care for childbearing women.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Prevalence, contributing factors, and interventions to reduce medication errors in outpatient and ambulatory settings: a systematic review.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2023Pooled it
- The Relationship of Continuity of Care, Polypharmacy and Medication Appropriateness: A Systematic Review of Observational Studies.Drugs & aging · 2023Pooled it
- The impact of remote care approaches on continuity in primary care: a mixed-studies systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2023Pooled it
- Challenges of managing diabetes in Iran: meta-synthesis of qualitative studies.BMC health services research · 2020Pooled it
- What are the implications for practice that arise from studies of medication taking? A systematic review of qualitative research.PloS one · 2018Pooled it
- Putting dementia awareness into general practice : The CADIF approach.Zeitschrift fur Gerontologie und Geriatrie · 2017Pooled it
- Midwife-led continuity models versus other models of care for childbearing women.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- 'It's what we should be doing anyway': using financial incentives to promote relational continuity in Australian General Practice-a nested case study analysis.Family practice · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Personal Continuity of Care in a University-Based Primary Care Practice: Impact on Blood Pressure Control.PloS one · 2015Trial
- Continuity in a fragmented healthcare system: - organizational and individual determinants.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- Follow-up pathways, investigation utilisation, and general practitioner communication following acute medical unit assessment: A six-month retrospective service evaluation.Irish journal of medical science · 2026Article
- Sustaining named GP continuity requires organisational change: a comparative implementation analysis in Finland.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Article
- 'Waiting poorly' for hip and knee arthroplasty - unmet needs and lack of support while waiting for surgery : findings of the multicentre WAIT-DATA study.Bone & joint open · 2026Article
- Patient-Transition Networks, Multiservice Trajectories, and Specialty Activity in a University Dental Clinic: A Retrospective Ecological Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Who's Coming Through the Door? Quantifying Care Continuity of Personal Support Services in Home Care.Healthcare policy = Politiques de sante · 2026Article
- Bridging success in the labour market: does continuity of general practitioners' care matter for individuals with common mental disorders?The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2026Article
- Continuity at the Incision: Why Cesarean Delivery Belongs in Family Medicine.Annals of family medicine · 2026Article
219 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeWe wanted to undertake a critical review of the medical literature regarding the relationships between interpersonal continuity of care and the outcomes and cost of health care.
methodsA search of the MEDLINE database from 1966 through April 2002 was conducted by the primary author to find original English language articles focusing on interpersonal continuity of patient care. The articles were then screened to select those articles focusing on the relationship between interpersonal continuity and the outcome or cost of care. These articles were systematically reviewed and analyzed by both authors for study method, measurement technique, and quality of evidence.
resultsForty-one research articles reporting the results of 40 studies were identified that addressed the relationship between interpersonal continuity and care outcome. A total of 81 separate care outcomes were reported in these articles. Fifty-one outcomes were significantly improved and only 2 were significantly worse in association with interpersonal continuity. Twenty-two articles reported the results of 20 studies of the relationship between interpersonal continuity and cost. These studies reported significantly lower cost or utilization for 35 of 41 cost variables in association with interpersonal continuity.
conclusionsAlthough the available literature reflects persistent methodologic problems, it is likely that a significant association exists between interpersonal continuity and improved preventive care and reduced hospitalization. Future research in this area should address more specific and measurable outcomes and more direct costs and should seek to define and measure interpersonal continuity more explicitly.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.