Observational studyBMJ open2019
Health-related quality of life among frequent attenders in Swedish primary care: a cross-sectional observational study.
Observational study in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Examining the characteristics of patients with long-term impaired work ability in primary health care - a cross-sectional study.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Trial
- The importance of partnership in chronic pain - co-creation of tomorrow's pain care by working together in research, implementation, and knowledge dissemination.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Health-related quality of life among multiethnic public polyclinic users in Singapore and associated factors: a cross-sectional study.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Profile and healthcare utilisation patterns of adolescent frequent attenders in Singapore primary care: a retrospective study.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Reducing patients' rate of frequent attendance through a training intervention for physicians.BMC medical education · 2024Article
- Article
- Targeted health promotion with guided nature walks or group exercise: a controlled trial in primary care.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Conventional health care service utilization among cancer survivors that visit traditional and complementary providers in the Tromsø study: a cross-sectional study.BMC health services research · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe aim was to examine health-related quality of life (HRQoL), patient characteristics and reasons for visits to general practitioners (GPs) by frequent attenders (FAs) and a comparison group (CG) in primary care.
methodsPatients aged 18-64 years were eligible for the study. Medical records were scrutinised concerning reasons for visits. Questionnaires including short-form health survey (SF-36) were mailed to 331 FAs (≥5 visits at GPs during 2000) and 371 patients in a CG randomly selected from two healthcare centres and returned by 49% and 57%, respectively. FAs' SF-36 health profiles were compared both to CG and general Swedish population norms.
resultsFAs report lower HRQoL than CG and below the general Swedish population norms in all eight SF-36 domains including both mental and physical component summary scores (MCS and PCS). Effect sizes (ESs) for differences between FAs and norms ranged from 0.79 to 1.08 for specific domains and was 0.94 for PCS and 0.71 for MCS. ESs of FAs versus CG ranged between 0.60 and 0.95 for the domains and was 0.76 for PCS and 0.49 for MCS. There were no significant differences between the FAs and CG with regard to sex, being married or cohabiting, number of children in household or educational level. FAs were more often unemployed, obese, slightly older and used complementary medicine more frequently. Except for injuries, all health complaints as classified in 10 categories were more common among FAs than CG, particularly musculoskeletal pain and psychosocial distress related to compromised HRQoL.
conclusionThe HRQoL is compromised in FAs, both when compared with patients who do not often seek care and to general Swedish population norms. Commonly reported reasons for visiting GPs among FAs were musculoskeletal pain and psychosocial distress. Thus, perceived ill health, particularly pain and distress, seems important for high utilisation of healthcare resources.
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