SynthesisThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2025
Personal GP continuity improves healthcare outcomes in primary care populations: a systematic review.
Synthesis in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2025. 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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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed.
- [A primary care system in Germany: evidence, opportunities, and implementation].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2026Review
- Maintaining continuity in fragmented healthcare systems.Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine · 2026Article
- [Health literacy in primary care: Understanding, managing, and making sense].Atencion primaria · 2026Article
- Governing the attention dividend: AI-reclaimed clinician capacity as a health policy resource.Health affairs scholar · 2026Article
- Residency taught me medicine: practice taught me everything else.Family medicine and community health · 2026Article
- Access to general practice: why policy must be rural-proofed.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Article
- Teamwork and relational infrastructure: a qualitative study of modern UK general practice.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Article
- Assessing the importance and feasibility of quality measures for chiropractic care: a national survey of U.S. chiropractors.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2026Article
- Continuity of Primary Care in Community Health Centers.Annals of family medicine · 2026Article
- Article
- Experiences of access to general practice in England: qualitative study and implications for the NHS 10 year plan.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2026Article
- Patient satisfaction with the implementation of the family medicine model at Nassem Health Centre, Kuwait.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Skill mix in primary care, working hours, time used on management, and burnout among general practitioners.Family practice · 2025Article
- Improving continuity of care in Finnish primary health care: Insights from a nationwide qualitative study of primary care physicians.The European journal of general practice · 2025Article
- Whole-body magnetic resonance imaging for cancer screening.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadienArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPersonal continuity is a hallmark for GPs but there is insufficient evidence to support its benefits in ordinary primary care populations.
aimTo investigate the effects of GP personal continuity on the healthcare outcomes of primary care populations. DESIGN AND
settingSystematic review of quantitative studies investigating associations between personal continuity of care and outcomes such as mortality and healthcare utilisation.
methodEmbase, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched for studies published between 1 January 2000 and 31 October 2023. Owing to study heterogeneity the synthesis was conducted narratively; study results were summarised and expressed as having higher (compared with lower) continuity of care. Certainty of each summarised result was assessed using the GRADE framework.
resultsOut of 5792 unique references, 18 studies were included in the final analyses. The outcomes were grouped into three categories of summarised outcomes. Higher (when compared with lower) personal continuity with a GP/family physician probably prevents premature mortality (moderate certainty: four studies, 5 638 305 participants), probably reduces the risk of admission to hospital (moderate certainty: 11 studies, 13 642 684 participants), and probably lowers risk of emergency department visits (moderate certainty: seven studies, 3 855 487 participants).
conclusionHigher, compared with lower, continuity in the relationship between GP and patients in primary care populations is associated with reduced mortality, admissions to hospital, and emergency department visits. Relatively small improvements in personal continuity, which may be achieved in most practices, significantly reduce healthcare consumption, and thus may have an impact on access to care, which has implications for healthcare policy.
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Registered trials
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.