ArticleBMC family practice2011
Diagnostic scope in out-of-hours primary care services in eight European countries: an observational study.
Article in BMC family practice, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 69 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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
69 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Task shifting from general practitioners to other health professionals in out-of-hours primary care - a systematic literature review on content and quality of task shifting.The European journal of general practice · 2024Pooled it
- How parents express their worry in calls to a medical helpline: a mixed methods study.BMC primary care · 2022Trial
- The impact of substituting general practitioners with nurse practitioners on resource use, production and health-care costs during out-of-hours: a quasi-experimental study.BMC family practice · 2016Trial
- Task shifting from general practitioners to nurses and the association with patient flow and resource use in out-of-hours primary care clinics: a descriptive register-based study.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- Out-of-hours C-reactive protein point-of-care testing and its association with long-term healthcare-seeking.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- Impact of a multifaceted intervention programme on antibiotic prescribing in out-of-hours primary care in five European countries: secondary analyses of the HAPPY PATIENT project.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2026Article
- Video-supported telephone triage in emergency primary healthcare: an observational study from Norway.BMJ open · 2026Observational
- Performance of the Dutch Triage standard in managing fever in children in out-of-hours primary care: a secondary analysis of the chili study.Family practice · 2026Article
- Observational
- Understanding language barriers at the registration desk of an after-hours clinic: a qualitative observational study.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- GP characteristics and video use in out-of-hours primary care: a register-based study.BJGP open · 2025Article
- Diagnostic equipment and point-of-care tests in Norwegian emergency primary healthcare clinics: a cross-sectional study.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2025Article
- Impact of video service failure on triage outcomes in Danish out-of-hours primary care: a register-based study across four regions.BMJ open · 2025Observational
- Task shifting from general practitioners to nurses in out-of-hours primary care: an explorative case study of team-based practices.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2025Article
- Diagnosing acute lower respiratory tract infections in out-of-hours services during the COVID-19 pandemic.International journal of emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Diagnostic scope: the AI can't see what the mind doesn't know.Diagnosis (Berlin, Germany) · 2025Review
- Observational
- The Added Value of Using Video in Out-of-Hours Primary Care Telephone Triage Among General Practitioners: Cross-Sectional Survey Study.JMIR human factors · 2024Article
- Article
- Reasons for encounter in video contacts at a Danish out-of-hours primary care service: a questionnaire study.BMJ open · 2024Article
9 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
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn previous years, out- of-hours primary care has been organised in large-scale organisations in many countries. This may have lowered the threshold for many patients to present health problems at nights and during the weekend. Comparisons of out-of-hours care between countries require internationally comparable figures on symptoms and diagnoses, which were not available. This study aimed to describe the symptoms and diagnoses in out-of-hours primary care services in regions in eight European countries.
methodsWe conducted a retrospective observational study based on medical records from out-of-hours primary care services in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, and Switzerland. We aimed to include data on 1000 initial contacts from up to three organisations per country. Excluded were contacts with an administrative reason. The International Classification for Primary Care (ICPC) was used to categorise symptoms and diagnoses. In two countries (Slovenia and Spain) ICD10 codes were translated into ICPC codes.
resultsThe age distribution of patients showed a high consistency across countries, while the percentage of males varied from 33.7% to 48.3%. The ICPC categories that were used most frequently concerned: chapter A 'general and unspecified symptoms' (mean 13.2%), chapter R 'respiratory' (mean 20.4%), chapter L 'musculoskeletal' (mean 15.0%), chapter S 'skin' (mean 12.5%), and chapter D 'digestive' (mean 11.6%). So, relatively high numbers of patients presenting with infectious diseases or acute pain related syndromes. This was largely consistent across age groups, but in some age groups chapter H ('ear problems'), chapter L ('musculoskeletal') and chapter K ('cardiovascular') were frequently used. Acute life-threatening problems had a low incidence.
conclusionsThis international study suggested a highly similar diagnostic scope in out-of-hours primary care services. The incidence rates of acute life-threatening health problems were low in all countries.
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