ArticleBMC health services research2014
Continuity of GP care is associated with lower use of complementary and alternative medical providers: a population-based cross-sectional survey.
Article in BMC health services research, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- The association between health anxiety and visits to traditional and complementary medicine providers in Norway: the Tromsø7 Study.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Article
- Access to and Use of Health Services by Older Men and Women Experiencing Frailty and Ageing in Place Alone in Italy.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Teaching population health in general practice: developing mindset through continuity, community, and data.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Frail Older People Ageing in Place in Italy: Use of Health Services and Relationship with General Practitioner.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Personal continuity of GP care and outpatient specialist visits in people with type 2 diabetes: A cross-sectional survey.PloS one · 2022Article
- Association of Continuity of General Practitioner Care with Utilisation of General Practitioner and Specialist Services in China: A Mixed-Method Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Use of complementary and alternative medicine in Norway: a cross-sectional survey with a modified Norwegian version of the international questionnaire to measure use of complementary and alternative medicine (I-CAM-QN).BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2021Article
- Prevalence, and health- and sociodemographic associations for visits to traditional and complementary medical providers in the seventh survey of the Tromsø study.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2019Article
- Associations Between the Use of eHealth and Out-of-Hours Services in People With Type 1 Diabetes: Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2019Article
- Prevalence and reasons for intentional use of complementary and alternative medicine as an adjunct to future visits to a medical doctor for chronic disease.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2018Article
- Attitudes and knowledge about direct and indirect risks among conventional and complementary health care providers in cancer care.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2018Article
- The use of CAM providers and psychiatric outpatient services in people with anxiety/depression: a cross-sectional survey.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2016Article
- Perception of risk and communication among conventional and complementary health care providers involving cancer patients' use of complementary therapies: a literature review.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2016Review
- Use of complementary and alternative medicine in patients with health complaints attributed to former dental amalgam fillings.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2016Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundContinuity of general practitioner (GP) care is associated with reduced use of emergency departments, hospitalisation, and outpatient specialist services. Evidence about the relationship between continuity and use of complementary and alternative medical (CAM) providers has so far been lacking. The aim of this study was to test the association between continuity of GP care and the use of CAM providers.
methodsWe used questionnaire data from the sixth Tromsø Study, conducted in 2007-8. Using descriptive statistical methods, we estimated the proportion using a CAM provider among adults (30-87 years) who had visited a GP during the last 12 months. By means of logistic regressions, we studied the association between the duration of the GP-patient relationship and the use of CAM providers. Analyses were adjusted for the frequency of GP visits, gender, age, marital status, income, education, and self-rated health and other proxies for health care needs.
resultsOf 9,743 eligible GP users, 85.1% had seen the same GP for more than two years, 83.7% among women and 86.9% among men. The probability of visiting a CAM provider was lower among those with a GP relationship of more than 2 years compared to those with a shorter GP relationship (odds ratio [OR] 0.81, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.68-0.96). Other factors associated with CAM use were female gender, poor health, low age and high income. There was no association with education.
conclusionsContinuity of GP care as measured by the duration of the GP-patient relationship was associated with lower use of CAM providers. Together with previous studies this suggests that continuity of GP care may contribute to health care delivery from fewer providers.
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