Observational studyBMJ open2022
From direct attendance to telephone triage in an emergency primary healthcare service: an observational study.
Observational study in BMJ open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 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
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Factors affecting communication during telephone triage in medical call centres: a mixed methods systematic review.Systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Telephone triage in urgent unscheduled primary care in 16 European countries: a cross-national questionnaire-based expert study.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- Telephone Triage for Medical Students: An Exploration Through Cultural Historical Activity Theory.The clinical teacher · 2026Article
- Article
- Adverse working conditions in Romanian out-of-hours primary care (OOH-PC): an interview study.Human resources for health · 2025Article
- Article
- Accuracy of online symptom assessment applications, large language models, and laypeople for self-triage decisions.NPJ digital medicine · 2025Article
- The Triage Capability of Laypersons: Retrospective Exploratory Analysis.JMIR formative research · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo describe how an intervention to limit direct attendance in an emergency primary healthcare service affected the contacts to the clinic and the level of care given, and which factors were associated with a change from direct attendance to telephone contact.
designObservational study.
settingSeven Norwegian emergency primary healthcare services. The telephone triage operators are primarily registered nurses.
participantsRegistered patient contacts to the services during 2007-2019.
interventionsIn 2013, one of the seven services made an intervention to limit direct attendances to the emergency primary healthcare clinic. Through an advertisement in a local newspaper, the public was encouraged to call in advance. Patients who still attended directly, were encouraged to call in advance next time. MEASURES: We compared the proportions of direct attendance and telephone contact, and of consultation by a general practitioner and telephone consultation by an operator, before and after the intervention. We also compared the proportions of direct attendance regarding gender, age group, time of day and urgency level. Descriptive analyses and log binomial regression analyses were applied.
resultsThere were 1 105 019 contacts to the seven services during the study period. The average proportion of direct attendance decreased from 68.7% (95% CI 68.4% to 68.9%) to 23.4% (95% CI 23.2% to 23.6%) in the service that carried out the intervention. Telephone consultation by an operator increased from 11.7% (95% CI 11.5% to 11.8%) to 29.2% (95% CI 28.9% to 29.5%) and medical consultation by a general practitioner decreased from 78.3% (95% CI 78.1% to 78.5%) to 57.0% (95% CI 56.7% to 57.3%). The youngest and the oldest age group and women had the largest decrease in direct attendance, by -81%, -74% and -71%, respectively.
conclusionThe intervention influenced how the public contacted the service. Information campaigns on how to contact healthcare services should be implemented on a regular basis.
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Registered trials
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