ArticleBMC health services research2018
What effect do point of care fees have on childhood consultations in general practice?
Article in BMC health services research, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- The University of Limerick Education and Research Network for General Practice (ULEARN-GP): practice characteristics and general practitioner perspectives.BMC family practice · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGeneral practice (GP) has historically been central to the prevention and treatment of childhood illnesses. In Ireland, this role has recently expanded with the introduction of free GP care for children aged under six years in 2015. The Republic of Ireland has the only health system in the European Union which does not offer universal coverage for primary care. This study aims to analyse general practice records to investigate the effect of point of care consultation fees on childhood attendances.
methodsGPs affiliated to the medical school (n = 72) were invited to participate. 100 children aged 1 to 14 years were randomly sampled from each. Data was collected on service utilisation in the previous 12 months, specifically: age, gender, eligibility for free care and whether they had consulted their GP in the 12 month period.
resultsSixty-four practices participated, producing data on 6007 eligible children. The median age of children was seven years; 3688(62%) were 'fee-paying'. GMS patients aged under six years had a median of three consultations/year, with a quarter attending six times a year or more, while fee paying patients had a median of two consultations/year with a quarter attending four times a year or more.
conclusionsChildren eligible for free care attend more often with a subgroup attending very frequently. This study provides important information on the possible impact of fees on healthcare utilisation for countries considering co-payment.
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