Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36806066›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2023

Impact of the family doctor system on the continuity of care for diabetics in urban China: a difference-in-difference analysis.

Xinyi Liu, Luying Zhang, Wen Chen

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
17citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
8.3field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

17 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Xinyi LiuSchool of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.ORCID 0000-0002-9208-7144
Luying ZhangSchool of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Wen ChenSchool of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China wenchen@fudan.edu.cn.
Fudan University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesOur study aimed to examine whether the family doctor system can improve continuity of care for patients with diabetes.

designRegistry-based, population-level longitudinal cohort study.

settingLinked data from the administrative Health Information System and the Health Insurance Claim Databases in a sample city in eastern China.

participants30 451 insured patients who were diagnosed with diabetes before January 2015 in the sample city, with ≥2 outpatient visits per year during 2014-2017. Diabetics in the intervention group had been registered with family doctor teams from 2015 to 2017, while those who had not registered were taken as the control group.

interventionsThe family doctor system was established in China mainly to strengthen primary care and rebuild referral systems. Residents were encouraged to register with family doctors to obtain continuous health management especially for chronic disease management. OUTCOME MEASURES: Continuity of care was measured by the Continuity of Care Index (COCI), Usual Provider Continuity Score (UPCS) and Sequential Continuity of Care Index (SECON) in 2014-2017.

resultsCOCI, UPCS and SECON of all diabetics in this study increased between 2014 and 2017. A difference-in-difference approach was applied to measure the net effect of the family doctor system on continuity of care. Our model controlled for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, and severity of disease at baseline. Compared with the control group, diabetics registered with family doctors obtained an average 0.019 increase in COCI (SE 0.002) (p<0.01), a 0.016 increase in UPCS (SE 0.002) (p<0.01) and a 0.018 increase in SECON (SE 0.002) (p<0.01).

conclusionThis study provides evidence that the family doctor system can effectively improve continuity of care for patients with diabetes, which has substantial policy implications for further primary care reform in China.

Indexed as

Diabetes MellitusPhysicians, FamilyChinaContinuity of Patient CareHumansLongitudinal Studiesgeneral medicine (see internal medicine)health policyhealth services administration & managementprimary care

Identifiers

PMID36806066
PMCPMC9943912
OpenAlexW4321211002

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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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.