Observational studyBMC family practice2021
Continuity in general practice and hospitalization patterns: an observational study.
Observational study in BMC family practice, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- 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 · 2025Pooled it
- Optimising personal continuity for older patients in general practice: a cluster randomised stepped wedge pragmatic trial.BMJ open · 2024Trial
- Two-year follow-up of a clustered randomised controlled trial of a multicomponent general practice intervention for people at risk of poor health outcomes.BMC health services research · 2024Trial
- Continuity of care and patient-reported experiences in Norwegian general practice: are they linked, and does the measurement of continuity matter?Family practice · 2026Article
- Implications of federalism: patterns of healthcare utilisation across Austrian federal states - insights from the Health Interview Surveys.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Continuity and discontinuity of end-of-life care: A grounded theory study of bereaved family caregivers' experiences.Palliative care and social practice · 2026Article
- Article
- Continuity of care in a pandemic: an observational study in GP-centred healthcare in Germany.BMJ open quality · 2025Observational
- Access points to different levels of health care over 13 years. Utilization behaviour in a changing health care system. Results of a three-wave cross-sectional series in Austria.European journal of public health · 2025Article
- The contribution of Specialist Family Physicians to South Africa's private sector: A position statement.South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care · 2024Article
- [Ensuring primary care in Germany-findings from a quantitative survey of general practitioners].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2024Article
- "I do not know the advantages of having a general practitioner" - a qualitative study exploring the views of low-acuity emergency patients without a regular general practitioner toward primary care.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Exploring experiences of mothers of children with thalassemia major in Indonesia: A descriptive phenomenological study.Belitung nursing journal · 2024Article
- Greater temporal regularity of primary care visits was associated with reduced hospitalizations and mortality, even after controlling for continuity of care.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Article
- Barriers to home exercise for patients with Parkinson's disease: a qualitative study.BMJ open · 2023Article
- The Influence of Provider Connectedness on Continuity of Care and Hospital Readmissions in Patients With COPD: A Claims Data Based Social Network Study.Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (Miami, Fla.) · 2023Article
- General practitioner-centred paediatric primary care reduces risk of hospitalisation for mental disorders in children and adolescents with ADHD: findings from a retrospective cohort study.The European journal of general practice · 2022Article
- Measuring continuity of ambulatory cardiovascular care: a cross-sectional study on the applicability of the Nijmegen Continuity Questionnaire in Germany.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHigh continuity of care is a key feature of strong general practice. This study aimed to assess the effect of a programme for enhancing strong general practice care on the continuity of care in Germany. The second aim was to assess the effect of continuity of care on hospitalization patterns.
methodsWe performed an observational study in Germany, involving patients who received a strong general practice care programme (n=1.037.075) and patients who did not receive this programme (n=723.127) in the year 2017. We extracted data from a health insurance database. The cohorts were compared with respect to three measures of continuity of care (Usual Provider Index, Herfindahl Index, and the Sequential Continuity Index), adjusted for patient characteristics. The effects of continuity in general practice on the rates of hospitalization, rehospitalization, and avoidable hospitalization were examined in multiple regression analyses.
resultsCompared to the control cohort, continuity in general practice was higher in patients who received the programme (continuity measures were 12.47 to 23.76% higher, P< 0.0001). Higher continuity of care was independently associated with lowered risk of hospitalization, rehospitalization, and avoidable hospitalization (relative risk reductions between 2.45 and 9.74%, P< 0.0001). Higher age, female sex, higher morbidity (Charlson-index), and home-dwelling status (not nursing home) were associated with higher rates of hospitalization.
conclusionHigher continuity of care may be one of the mechanisms underlying lower hospitalization rates in patients who received strong general practice care, but further research is needed to examine the causality underlying the associations.
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