Observational studyAnnals of family medicine
Personal Continuity and Appropriate Prescribing in Primary Care.
Observational study in Annals of family medicine. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 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
15 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Data Resource Profile: The General Practice Database-Amsterdam, North Holland, Almere (GPD-ANHA).International journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Association of General Practice Continuity With Hospital Admissions and Costs: A Retrospective Study.Annals of family medicine · 2026Article
- Association between continuity of care and detection of hypertension in Dutch general practice: a 10-year cohort study.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Continuity of Primary Care in Community Health Centers.Annals of family medicine · 2026Article
- Continuity of care for all? Associations between migration background and personal continuity among persons aged 50 and older in Dutch primary care: a registry-based observational study.Family practice · 2025Observational
- Patterns in Prescribing and Dispensing Influenza Antivirals Among Adults With Influenza Presenting to Urgent Care and Emergency Department Settings: VISION Network, 2023-2024.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2025Article
- Polypharmacy as a Chronic Condition: A Diagnostic Mindset for Safer and Smarter Care.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Reframing Polypharmacy: Empowering Medical Students to Manage Medication Burden as a Chronic Condition.Clinics and practice · 2025Article
- Quantifying, Understanding and Enhancing Relational Continuity of Care (QUERCC): a mixed-methods protocol.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Continuity of care during long-term care transitions: a scoping review of the Canadian literature.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Challenges of benzodiazepine deprescribing in elderly patients attending primary healthcare.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- "Treat people with human dignity": the perspective of older adults on the quality of geriatric rehabilitation.European geriatric medicine · 2024Article
- Association of polydoctoring and mortality among persons over 85 years with multimorbidity: a prospective cohort study in Japan.BJGP open · 2024Article
- Ongoing Decline in Continuity With GPs in English General Practices: A Longitudinal Study Across the COVID-19 Pandemic.Annals of family medicine · 2024Article
- The Wall of Evidence for Continuity of Care: How Many More Bricks Do We Need?Annals of family medicineArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposePersonal continuity between patient and physician is a core value of primary care. Although previous studies suggest that personal continuity is associated with fewer potentially inappropriate prescriptions, evidence on continuity and prescribing in primary care is scarce. We aimed to determine the association between personal continuity and potentially inappropriate prescriptions, which encompasses potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) and potential prescribing omissions (PPOs), by family physicians among older patients.
methodsWe conducted an observational cohort study using routine care data from patients enlisted in 48 Dutch family practices from 2013 to 2018. All 25,854 patients aged 65 years and older having at least 5 contacts with their practice in 6 years were included. We calculated personal continuity using 3 established measures: the usual provider of care measure, the Bice-Boxerman Index, and the Herfindahl Index. We used the Screening Tool of Older Person's Prescriptions (STOPP) and the Screening Tool to Alert doctors to Right Treatment (START) specific to the Netherlands version 2 criteria to calculate the prevalence of potentially inappropriate prescriptions. To assess associations, we conducted multilevel negative binomial regression analyses, with and without adjustment for number of chronic conditions, age, and sex.
resultsThe patients' mean (SD) values for the usual provider of care measure, the Bice-Boxerman Continuity of Care Index, and the Herfindahl Index were 0.70 (0.19), 0.55 (0.24), and 0.59 (0.22), respectively. In our population, 72.2% and 74.3% of patients had at least 1 PIM and PPO, respectively; 30.9% and 34.2% had at least 3 PIMs and PPOs, respectively. All 3 measures of personal continuity were positively and significantly associated with fewer potentially inappropriate prescriptions.
conclusionsA higher level of personal continuity is associated with more appropriate prescribing. Increasing personal continuity may improve the quality of prescriptions and reduce harmful consequences.
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