Observational studyAnnals of family medicine2018
The Influence of Family Physicians Within the South African District Health System: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Observational study in Annals of family medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed.
- Family physician deployment in South Africa's district health system: A cross-sectional study.South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care · 2026Article
- Clinical leadership development: Current practices and future directions for Southern African primary healthcare.South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care · 2026Article
- Creating the evidence for family medicine advocacy in Africa.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2025Article
- How to measure the core functions of primary care in low-income and middle-income country settings.BMJ global health · 2025Review
- Exploring stakeholders' experiences on implementing family medicine in urban South Africa.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2025Article
- The contribution of family physicians to district health services in South Africa: A national position paper by the South African Academy of Family Physicians.South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care · 2022Article
- The contribution of family physicians in coordinating care and improving access at district hospitals: The False Bay experience, South Africa.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2021Article
- The family physician as a primary care consultant - the Mossel Bay experience.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2021Article
- Comprehensive Care through Family Medicine: Improving the Sustainability of Aging Societies.Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Editorial: The contribution of family physicians to African health systems - A call for short reports.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2021Article
- Article
- Current status of family medicine in Kenya; family physicians' perception of their role.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2020Article
- The state of family medicine training programmes within the Primary Care and Family Medicine Education network.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2020Article
- A scoping review on family medicine in sub-Saharan Africa: practice, positioning and impact in African health care systems.Human resources for health · 2020Article
- Views of physicians on the establishment of a department of family medicine in South India: A qualitative study.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2019Article
- A global picture of family medicine: the view from a WONCA Storybooth.BMC family practice · 2019Article
- Primary health care performance: a scoping review of the current state of measurement in Africa.BMJ global health · 2019Article
- The perceived impact of family physicians on the district health system in South Africa: a cross-sectional survey.BMC family practice · 2018Article
- The views of key stakeholders in Zimbabwe on the introduction of postgraduate family medicine training: A qualitative study.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeEvidence of the influence of family physicians on health care is required to assist managers and policy makers with human resource planning in Africa. The international argument for family physicians derives mainly from research in high-income countries, so this study aimed to evaluate the influence of family physicians on the South African district health system.
methodsWe conducted a cross-sectional observational study in 7 South African provinces, comparing 15 district hospitals and 15 community health centers (primary care facilities) with family physicians and the same numbers without family physicians. Facilities with and without family physicians were matched on factors such as province, setting, and size.
resultsAmong district hospitals, those with family physicians generally scored better on indicators of health system performance and clinical processes, and they had significantly fewer modifiable factors associated with pediatric mortality (mean, 2.2 vs 4.7,
conclusionsIn this study, having family physicians on staff was associated with better indicators of performance and processes in district hospitals but not in community health centers. The latter was surprising and is inconsistent with the global literature, suggesting that further research is needed on the influence of family physicians at the primary care level.
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