Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42050887›Full record

ArticleJournal of the American Geriatrics Society2026

Primary Health Care Services and Continuity of Care Are Associated With Better Health Outcomes in the Older Population.

Gillian E Caughey, Johannes Schwabe, Brian W Pulling, Maria Crotty, Helena Williams, Andrew Kellie, Gillian Harvey, Steve L Wesselingh, David Roder, Krystal-Lee Nixon and 8 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. 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

18 authors.

Gillian E CaugheyRegistry of Senior Australians Research Centre, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-1192-4121
Johannes SchwabeRegistry of Senior Australians Research Centre, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-0916-3098
Brian W PullingRegistry of Senior Australians Research Centre, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Maria CrottyCollege of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Helena WilliamsRegistry of Senior Australians Research Centre, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Andrew KellieSignal Health Newton, Newton, South Australia, Australia.
Gillian HarveyCaring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia.
Steve L WesselinghSouth Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
David RoderUniSA Allied Health and Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.
Krystal-Lee NixonSA Health Dental Service, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Janet K SluggettRegistry of Senior Australians Research Centre, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Monica CationsCollege of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-9262-0463
Tiffany K GillAdelaide Medical School, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Jyoti KhadkaCaring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia.
Megan CorlisAustralian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (SA Branch), Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Carolyn DawkinsECH Inc, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Marilyn von ThienRegistry of Senior Australians Research Centre, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Maria C InacioRegistry of Senior Australians Research Centre, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-8261-2665

Funding

National Health and Medical Research Council GNT119378National Health and Medical Research Council GNT1194084National Health and Medical Research Council GNT2016277National Health and Medical Research Council GNT2026400National Health and Medical Research Council MRFF1200056
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOlder people's preference is to age in place. Optimizing the delivery of high-quality home-based primary care for this growing population is a priority for healthcare systems worldwide. Provision of primary care is essential to support the health and wellbeing of the older population, yet there is a lack of high-quality evidence quantifying the effects of primary care services for the older population. This study aimed to examine the association of continuity of primary care and primary health care patterns on the risk of mortality and hospitalization in the older population.

methodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted between 1 July 2016 and 31 December 2019 of 120,522 older people (≥ 65 years) living in the community receiving long-term care. Continuity of primary care and patterns of primary care service utilization on the risk of mortality and nine hospitalization-related outcomes were examined. Propensity score methods for confounding adjustment and survival analyses were employed.

resultsCompared with seeing a new primary care physician (n = 25,213, 30%), seeing a known primary care physician (n = 41,309, 49.1%) was associated with lower risks of hospitalizations ranging from 18% reduction for medication-related hospitalization (sHR = 0.82, 95% CI 0.74-0.91) to 28% reduction for fractures (sHR = 0.72, 95% CI 0.66-0.78). The care pattern of high preventive primary care service use (n = 34,021, 62.4%) was associated with lower risks of hospitalization ranging from 15% for ED presentations (sHR = 0.85, 95% CI 0.80-0.92) to 36% for pressure injury-related hospitalization (sHR = 0.64, 95% CI 0.52-0.80) compared to high overall primary care use (n = 5293, 9.7%).

conclusionsCare patterns focusing on prevention and disease management, and continuity of primary care were associated with more favorable health outcomes among older people aiming to age in place.

Indexed as

Continuity of Patient CareHospitalizationPrimary Health CareAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleHumansMaleRetrospective Studiescontinuity of patient caregeneral practicehospitalizationlong‐term careprimary health care

Identifiers

PMID42050887
PMCPMC13418550

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.