ArticleBMC family practice2014
Gaining information about home visits in primary care: methodological issues from a feasibility study.
Article in BMC family practice, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Needs among persons with advanced COPD and their informal caregivers: a multi-perspective qualitative study focusing on the potential role of palliative care.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2026Article
- Examining differences in out-of-hours primary care use in Belgium and the Netherlands: a cross-sectional study.European journal of public health · 2019Observational
- Public preferences for primary care provision in Germany - a discrete choice experiment.BMC family practice · 2019Article
- Home visits in primary care: contents and organisation in daily practice. Study protocol of a cross-sectional study.BMJ open · 2016Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHome visits are part of general practice work in Germany. Within the context of an expanding elderly population and a decreasing number of general practitioner (GPs), open questions regarding the organisation and adequacy of GPs' care in immobile patients remain. To answer these questions, we will conduct a representative primary data collection concerning contents and organisation of GPs' home visits in 2014. Because this study will require considerable efforts for documentation and thus substantial involvement by participating GPs, we conducted a pilot study to see whether such a study design was feasible.
methodsWe used a mixed methods design with two study arms in a sample of teaching GPs of the University Halle. The quantitative arm evaluates participating GPs and documentation of home visits. The qualitative arm focuses on reasons for non-participation for GPs who declined to take part in the pilot study.
resultsOur study confirms previously observed reasons for non-response of GPs in the particular setting of home visits including lack of time and/or interest. In contrast to previous findings, monetary incentives were not crucial for GPs participation. Several factors influenced the documentation rate of home visits and resulted in a discrepancy between the numbers of home visits documented versus those actually conducted. The most frequently reported problem was related to obtaining patient consent, especially when patients were unable to provide informed consent due to cognitive deficits.
conclusionsThe results of our feasibility study provide evidence for improvement of the study design and study instruments to effectively conduct a documentation-intensive study of GPs doing home visits. Improvement of instructions and questionnaire regarding time variables and assessment of the need for home visits will be carried out to increase the reliability of future data. One particularly important methodological issue yet to be resolved is how to increase the representativeness of home visit care by including the homebound patient population that is unable to provide informed consent.
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