Observational studyBMC family practice2014
Measuring patient-perceived continuity of care for patients with long-term conditions in primary care.
Observational study 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 19 papers, 2 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
19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Questionnaires that measure the quality of relationships between patients and primary care providers: a systematic review.BMC health services research · 2018Pooled it
- Why do they sign but not consult? A study on the effectiveness of China's family doctor contract services from the perspective of patient-doctor interaction.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Quantifying, Understanding and Enhancing Relational Continuity of Care (QUERCC): a mixed-methods protocol.BMJ open · 2025Article
- COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among non-communicable disease patients in Haiti.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Continuity of care: trust-based relationship and availability of personalized information in user experience.Cadernos de saude publica · 2025Article
- Development and psychometric properties of a short version of the Patient Continuity of Care Questionnaire.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2023Article
- The experiences and needs of frail older people receiving home health care: A qualitative study.International journal of older people nursing · 2022Article
- Patient Continuity of Care Questionnaire in a cardiac sample: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis.BMJ open · 2020Article
- Relational continuity of oral health care in Indigenous communities: a qualitative study.BMC oral health · 2019Article
- Patients' perceptions of continuity of care across primary care level and emergency departments in Belgium: cross-sectional survey.BMJ open · 2019Article
- Adaptation and psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the heart continuity of care questionnaire (HCCQ).BMC medical research methodology · 2019Article
- Adaption and validation of Nijmegen continuity questionnaire to recognize the influencing factors of continuity of care for hypertensive patients in China.BMC health services research · 2019Article
- Factors Associated With Seeking Physician Care by Medicare Beneficiaries Who Receive All Their Primary Care From Nurse Practitioners.Journal of primary care & community health · 2016Article
- Patients' experiences with continuity of cancer care in Canada: Results from the CanIMPACT study.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2016Article
- Primary care physician use across the breast cancer care continuum: CanIMPACT study using Canadian administrative data.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2016Article
- Understanding long-term opioid prescribing for non-cancer pain in primary care: a qualitative study.BMC family practice · 2015Article
- Establishing Continuity of Care Through a Team-Based Care Approach: Implementation Challenges.Journal of primary care & community healthArticle
- Effect of Retail Clinic Use on Continuity of Care Among Medicare Beneficiaries.Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine : JABFMArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundContinuity of care is widely acknowledged as important for patients with multi-morbidity but simple, service-orientated indices cannot capture the full impact of continuity in complex care delivery systems. The patient's perspective is important to assess outcomes fully and this is challenging because generic measures of patient-perceived continuity are lacking. We investigate the Chao Perception of Continuity (Chao PC) scale to determine its suitability as a measure of continuity of care for patients with a long-term condition (stroke), and co-morbidity, in a primary care setting.
methodsDESIGN AND
settingA questionnaire study embedded in a prospective observational cohort study of outcomes for patients following acute stroke.
participants168 community dwelling patients (58% male) mean age 68 years a minimum one year post-stroke. Functional status: Barthel Index mean =16.
interventionA 23-item questionnaire, the Chao Perception of Continuity (Chao PC) scale, sent by post to their place of residence or administered face to face as part of the final cohort study assessment.
results310 patients were invited to participate; 168 (54%) completed a questionnaire. All 23 questionnaire items were entered into a Principal Component Analysis. Emergent factors from the exploratory analysis were (1) inter-personal trust (relational continuity); (2) interpersonal knowledge and information (informational and relational continuity) and (3) the process of care (managerial continuity). The strongest of these was inter-personal trust.
conclusionThe context-specific items in the Chao PC scale are difficult for respondents to interpret in a United Kingdom Primary Care setting resulting in missing data and low response rates. The Chao-PC therefore cannot be recommended for wider application as a general measure of continuity of care without significant modification. Our findings reflect the acknowledged dimensions of continuity and support the concept of continuity of care as a multi-dimensional construct. We demonstrate the overlapping boundaries across the dimensions in the factor structure derived. Trust and interpersonal knowledge are clearly identified as valuable components of any patient-perceived measure of continuity of care.
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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.