Observational studyBMJ open2021
How does general practitioner discontinuity affect healthcare utilisation? An observational cohort study of 2.4 million Norwegians 2007-2017.
Observational study in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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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
18 citing papers in PubMed.
- Trial
- Understaffing and overprescribing: a register study on the role of locum physicians in antibiotic prescribing patterns in primary care in Northern Sweden.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- Article
- Use of general practitioner services among high-cost older patients in somatic hospitals - a Norwegian registry-based study.BMC health services research · 2026Observational
- General practice consultation patterns and patient factors predicting older patients' use of out-of-hours services: a nationwide register-based cohort study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Article
- Implications of federalism: patterns of healthcare utilisation across Austrian federal states - insights from the Health Interview Surveys.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- What makes general practice work: the role of continuity in efficient and sustainable primary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Article
- Vulnerable Groups in Primary Health Care: Brief Report of a Project Implementation in Lisbon.Portuguese journal of public health · 2025Article
- Quantifying, Understanding and Enhancing Relational Continuity of Care (QUERCC): a mixed-methods protocol.BMJ open · 2025Article
- 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
- Impact of changes in primary care attachment: a scoping review.Family medicine and community health · 2025Article
- Continuity and breaches in GP care and their associations with mortality for patients with chronic disease: an observational study using Norwegian registry data.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Observational
- Continuity of care and mortality for patients with chronic disease: an observational study using Norwegian registry data.Family practice · 2023Observational
- Article
- Article
- Continuity of care for patients with chronic disease: a registry-based observational study from Norway.Family practice · 2022Observational
- GP strategies to avoid imaging overuse. A qualitative study in Norwegian general practice.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2022Article
- Continuity in general practice as predictor of mortality, acute hospitalisation, and use of out-of-hours care: a registry-based observational study in Norway.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2022Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesPatients may benefit from continuity of care by a personal physician general practitioner (GP), but there are few studies on consequences of a break in continuity of GP. Investigate how a sudden discontinuity of GP care affects their list patients' regular GP consultations, out-of-hours consultations and acute hospital admissions, including admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSC).
designCohort study linking person-level national register data on use of health services and GP affiliation with data on GP activity and GP characteristics.
settingPrimary care.
participants2 409 409 Norwegians assigned to the patient lists of 2560 regular GPs who, after 12 months of stable practice, had a sudden discontinuity of practice lasting two or more months between 2007 and 2017. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Monthly GP consultations, out-of-hours consultations, acute hospital admissions and ACSC admissions in periods during and 12 months after the discontinuity, compared with the 12-month period before the discontinuity using logistic regression models.
resultsAll patient age groups had a 3%-5% decreased odds of monthly regular GP consultations during the discontinuity. Odds of monthly out-of-hours consultations increased 2%-6% during the discontinuity for all adult age groups. A 7%-9% increase in odds of ACSC admissions during the period 1-6 months after discontinuity was indicated in patients over the age of 65, but in general little or no change in acute hospital admissions was observed during or after the period of discontinuity.
conclusionsModest changes in health service use were observed during and after a sudden discontinuity in practice among patients with a previously stable regular GP. Older patients seem sensitive to increased acute hospital admissions in the absence of their personal GP.
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