ArticleBMC family practice2008
Defining frequent attendance in general practice.
Article in BMC family practice, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Burnout syndrome and its prevalence in primary care nursing: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC family practice · 2018Pooled it
- Frequent attenders in late life in primary care: a systematic review of European studies.BMC family practice · 2017Pooled it
- Rate and Characteristics of Frequent Attenders at Primary Healthcare Centres in Muscat Governorate, Oman:Sultan Qaboos University medical journal · 2026Article
- Patients' Experiences With Using a Digital Platform for Chat-Based Consultation in Primary Health Care in Sweden: Qualitative Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Comparisons of Physicians', Nurses', and Social Welfare Professionals' Experiences With Participation in Information System Development: Cross-Sectional Survey Study.JMIR human factors · 2025Article
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- Risk factors for the frequent attendance of older patients at community health service centers in China: a cross-sectional study based on stratified sampling.BMC family practice · 2021Article
- Frequent attenders in the German healthcare system: determinants of high utilization of primary care services. Results from the cross-sectional German health interview and examination survey for adults (DEGS).BMC family practice · 2020Article
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- Health-related quality of life among frequent attenders in Swedish primary care: a cross-sectional observational study.BMJ open · 2019Observational
- Determinants and underlying causes of frequent attendance in midwife-led care: an exploratory cross-sectional study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2019Article
- The Prevalence and Characteristics of Frequent Attenders in Primary Health Care in A'Dakhiliyah Governorate of Oman.Oman medical journal · 2018Article
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- Determinants related to gender differences in general practice utilization: Danish Diet, Cancer and Health Cohort.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2016Article
- Determinants of frequent attendance in Danish general practice: a cohort-based cross-sectional study.BMC family practice · 2016Article
- Longitudinal cohort study describing persistent frequent attenders in Australian primary healthcare.BMJ open · 2015Article
- The inter-contact interval: a new measure to define frequent attenders in primary care.BMC family practice · 2013Observational
- Morbidity and doctor characteristics only partly explain the substantial healthcare expenditures of frequent attenders: a record linkage study between patient data and reimbursements data.BMC family practice · 2013Article
- Predictability of persistent frequent attendance in primary care: a temporal and geographical validation study.PloS one · 2013Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGeneral practitioners (GPs) or researchers sometimes need to identify frequent attenders (FAs) in order to screen them for unidentified problems and to test specific interventions. We wanted to assess different methods for selecting FAs to identify the most feasible and effective one for use in a general (group) practice.
methodsIn the second Dutch National Survey of General Practice, data were collected on 375 899 persons registered with 104 practices. Frequent attendance is defined as the top 3% and 10% of enlisted patients in each one-year age-sex group measured during the study year. We used these two selections as our reference standard. We also selected the top 3% and 10% FAs (90 and 97 percentile) based on four selection methods of diminishing preciseness. We compared the test characteristics of these four methods.
resultsOf all enlisted patients, 24 % did not consult the practice during the study year. The mean number of contacts in the top 10% FAs increased in men from 5.8 (age 15-24 years) to 17.5 (age 64-75 years) and in women from 9.7 to 19.8. In the top 3% of FAs, contacts increased in men from 9.2 to 24.5 and in women from 14 to 27.8. The selection of FAs becomes more precise when smaller age classes are used. All selection methods show acceptable results (kappa 0.849 - 0.942) except the three group method.
conclusionTo correctly identify frequent attenders in general practice, we recommend dividing patients into at least three age groups per sex.
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