Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41044559›Full record

ArticleBMC health services research2025

Quality and outcomes framework achievement and unplanned admissions for cardiovascular disease.

Bo Hou, Sian Reece, Rachael H Moss, Jamilla Hussain, Tom Lawton, Michael McCooe, Kuldeep Sohal, Sohail Abbas, Tim Doran, Trevor Sheldon and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC health services research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
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

11 authors.

Bo HouBradford Institute for Health Research, Temple Bank House, Bradford Royal Infirmary, Duckworth Lane, Bradford, BD9 6RJ, UK. b.hou@ucl.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5337-6560
Sian ReeceDepartment of Health Sciences, University of York, Seebohm Rowntree Building, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK.
Rachael H MossBradford Institute for Health Research, Temple Bank House, Bradford Royal Infirmary, Duckworth Lane, Bradford, BD9 6RJ, UK.
Jamilla HussainBradford Institute for Health Research, Temple Bank House, Bradford Royal Infirmary, Duckworth Lane, Bradford, BD9 6RJ, UK.
Tom LawtonBradford Institute for Health Research, Temple Bank House, Bradford Royal Infirmary, Duckworth Lane, Bradford, BD9 6RJ, UK.
Michael McCooeBradford Institute for Health Research, Temple Bank House, Bradford Royal Infirmary, Duckworth Lane, Bradford, BD9 6RJ, UK.
Kuldeep SohalBradford Institute for Health Research, Temple Bank House, Bradford Royal Infirmary, Duckworth Lane, Bradford, BD9 6RJ, UK.
Sohail AbbasNHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, White Rose House, West Parade, Wakefield, WF1 1LT, UK.
Tim DoranDepartment of Health Sciences, University of York, Seebohm Rowntree Building, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK.
Trevor SheldonWolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London, Charterhouse Square, London, EC1M 6BQ, UK.
Josie DickersonBradford Institute for Health Research, Temple Bank House, Bradford Royal Infirmary, Duckworth Lane, Bradford, BD9 6RJ, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundUnplanned hospital admissions are costly and disproportionately affect people who are socioeconomically disadvantaged and from an ethnic minority group. A national primary care pay-for-performance scheme, the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), was introduced in England in 2004 to financially incentivise general practices to meet a range of performance indicators, but the QOF's impact on unplanned hospital admissions remains unclear. We examined the association between unplanned hospital admissions for cardiovascular disease (CVD), individual-level characteristics and achievement of key QOF indicators for CVD at the patients' registered general practice.

methodsThis study used the Connected Bradford dataset, which links individual-level primary and secondary care data. Our analytical sample included 508,977 patients registered with a Bradford District general practice from 2017 to 2019. Logistic regression was used to estimate associations between achievement of relevant QOF indicators and unplanned admissions for cardiovascular diseases, adjusting for individual-level differences in age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and pre-existing health conditions.

resultsSignificantly reduced odds of unplanned CVD hospital admissions were associated with attending a practice with higher achievement rates for QOF indicators relating to atrial fibrillation management (OR 0.97, p < 0.001), diabetes management (OR 0.98, p = 0.002), and smoking cessation (OR 0.98, p = 0.038). Conversely, increased odds of unplanned admission were associated with higher achievement for QOF indicators relating to antiplatelet or anticoagulation medication (OR 1.06, p < 0.001) and blood pressure control for diabetic patients (OR 1.02, p = 0.03). Individual-level characteristics significantly associated with increased risk of unplanned admission included living in the most deprived fifth of neighbourhoods (OR 2.00, p < 0.001) and having Pakistani ethnicity (OR 1.65, p < 0.001). Primary care diagnoses of hypertension (OR 1.79, p < 0.001), diabetes (OR 1.56, p < 0.001), chronic cardiac disease (OR 2.79, p < 0.001), and stroke (OR 1.6, p < 0.001) were all statistically significant and associated with higher odds of unplanned admissions for CVD.

conclusionsWe found mixed evidence for an association between practice-level QOF achievement and unplanned hospital admissions for CVD. There were large ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities in unplanned admissions for cardiovascular disease. Supporting general practices to appropriately improve their achievement of key cardiovascular disease related QOF indicators and reducing socioeconomic inequalities might likely reduce the number of unplanned hospital admissions.

Indexed as

Cardiovascular DiseasesGeneral PracticeHospitalizationQuality Indicators, Health CareAdultAgedEnglandFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedReimbursement, IncentiveCardiovascular diseaseHealth inequalitiesPrimary careQuality and outcome frameworkUnplanned hospital admissions

Identifiers

PMID41044559
PMCPMC12495635

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.