ArticleBMC family practice2020
Patients' preferences in selecting family physician in primary health centers: a qualitative-quantitative approach.
Article in BMC family practice, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Choice of primary healthcare providers among population in urban areas of low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review of literature.BMC primary care · 2026Pooled it
- Factors influencing the match between patient needs and primary care services: Patient and healthcare provider perspectives from two Canadian provinces.Journal of health services research & policy · 2026Article
- Choosing a Primary Care Provider: A Formative Qualitative Study to Identify Patient Preferences.Journal of patient-centered research and reviews · 2026Article
- Article
- Patient Adoption of Digital Use Cases in Family Medicine and a Nuanced Implementation Approach for Family Doctors: Quantitative Web-Based Survey Study.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- The state of primary healthcare centers in Saudi Arabia: A regional analysis for 2022.PloS one · 2024Article
- Physician factors affecting patient preferences in selecting a primary care provider: A qualitative research study in Singapore.PloS one · 2024Article
- Assessing the choice of National Health Insurance Fund contracted outpatient facilities in Kenya: A qualitative study.The International journal of health planning and management · 2023Article
- Preferences of people in choosing a family physician in rural areas: a qualitative inquiry from Iran.Primary health care research & development · 2022Article
- Health complaints in individual visiting primary health care: population-based national electronic health records of Iran.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Promoting sustainable physical activity among middle-aged Iranian women: a conceptual model-based interventional study.BMC women's health · 2021Article
- Patients' Shift from Public to Private Primary Health Care Providers in Lithuania: Analysis of the Main Reasons.Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financingArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe role of family physicians (FPs) in the metropolitan area is critical in identifying risk factors for disease prevention/control and health promotion in various age groups. Understanding patients' preferences and interests in choosing a FP can be an effective and fundamental step in the success of this program. In this study factors affecting the FP selection by Iranian patients referred to health centers in the most populous areas in the south of Tehran were assessed and ranked.
methodsA sequential mixed-method (qualitative-quantitative) triangulation approach was designed with three subject groups of patients, physicians, and health officials. The Framework method was used to analyze interviews transcribed verbatim. After implementing an iterative thematic process, a 26-item quantitative questionnaire with high validity and reliability was drafted to evaluate the different factors. A convenient sampling method was used to select 400 subjects on a population-based scale to quantitatively rank the most critical selection factors as a mean score of items.
resultsThe selection factors were divided into six centralized codes, including FPs' ethics, individual, professional and performance factors; patients' underlying disease and individual health, and disease-related factors, office's location and management factors, democracy factors, economic factors, and social factors. After filling out the questionnaires, the most important factors in selecting FP were a specialist degree in family medicine (FM) (4.49 ± 0.70), performing accurate examinations with receiving a detailed medical history (4.43 ± 0.68), and spending enough time to visit patients (4.28 ± 0.75), respectively. However, the parameters such as being a fellow-citizen, being the same gender, and physician's appearance were of the least importance.
conclusionThere is a possibility to screen the most important factors affecting the FP choice through the combination of qualitative and quantitative studies. The first and last patients' priority was physicians' specialty in FM and being a fellow-citizen with them, respectively. The clinical and administrative healthcare systems should schedule the entire implementation process to oversee the doctor's professional commitment and setting the visit times of FP.
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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.