Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28598752›Full record

ArticleScandinavian journal of primary health care2017

Association between continuity of care in Swedish primary care and emergency services utilisation: a population-based cross-sectional study.

Hannes Kohnke, Andrzej Zielinski

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scandinavian journal of primary health care, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
44citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

44 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Personal GP continuity improves healthcare outcomes in primary care populations: a systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025
    Pooled it
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Hannes Kohnkea Ronneby Primary Health Care Centre and Blekinge Centre of Competence , Ronneby , Sweden.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6339-3599
Andrzej Zielinskib Lyckeby Primary Health Care Centre and Blekinge Centre of Competence , Lyckeby , Sweden.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4715-5598

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThe primary objective of this study was to determine the association between longitudinal continuity of care (CoC) in Swedish primary care (PC) and emergency services (ES) utilisation. STUDY

designA cross-sectional analysis of longitudinal population data.

settingPC centres, out-of-hours PC facilities and emergency departments (EDs) in Blekinge County in southern Sweden. SUBJECTS: People of all ages who lived in Blekinge County and who had made two or more visits per year to a general practitioner (GP) during office hours from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2014.

main outcome measureES utilisation.

resultsEight-thousand one-hundred and eighty-five people were included in the study. CoC was quantified using three different indices-Usual Provider of Care index (UPC), Continuity of Care index (CoCI), and Sequential Continuity index (SECON). The CoC that the PC centres could offer their enrolled patients varied significantly between the different centres, ranging from 0.23-0.57 for UPC, 0.12-0.43 for CoCI, and 0.25-0.52 for SECON. Association between the three CoC indices and ES utilisation was computed as an incidence rate ratio which ranged between 0.50 and 0.59.

conclusionLongitudinal CoC was shown to have a negative association with ES utilisation. The association was significant and of a magnitude that implies clinical relevance. Computed incidence rate ratios suggest that patients with the lowest CoC had twice as many ES visits compared to patients with the highest CoC.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAgedContinuity of Patient CareCross-Sectional StudiesEmergency Medical ServicesFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedRegression AnalysisSwedenYoung AdultContinuity of patient careemergency departmenthealth care serviceshealth care utilisationprimary health careSweden

Identifiers

PMID28598752
PMCPMC5499310

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

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.