Dataset Information

Population characteristics, mechanisms of primary care and premature mortality in England: a cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:Health systems with strong primary care tend to have better population outcomes, but in many countries demand for care is growing. We sought to identify mechanisms of primary care that influence premature mortality. DESIGN:We developed a conceptual model of the mechanisms by which primary care influences premature mortality, and undertook a cross-sectional study in which population and primary care variables reflecting the model were used to explain variations in mortality of those aged under 75 years. The premature standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) for each practice, available from the Department of Health, had been calculated from numbers of deaths in the 5 years from 2006 to 2010. A regression model was undertaken with explanatory variables for the year 2009/2010, and repeated to check stability using data for 2008/2009 and 2010/2011. SETTING:All general practices in England were eligible for inclusion and, of the total of 8290, complete data were available for 7858. RESULTS:Population variables, particularly deprivation, were the most powerful predictors of premature mortality, but the mechanisms of primary care depicted in our model also affected mortality. The number of GPs/1000 population and detection of hypertension were negatively associated with mortality. In less deprived practices, continuity of care was also negatively associated with mortality. CONCLUSIONS:Greater supply of primary care is associated with lower premature mortality even in a health system that has strong primary care (England). Health systems need to sustain the capacity of primary care to deliver effective care, and should assist primary care providers in identifying and meeting the needs of socioeconomically deprived groups.

SUBMITTER: Baker R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4762103 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Population characteristics, mechanisms of primary care and premature mortality in England: a cross-sectional study.

Baker Richard R Honeyford Kate K Levene Louis S LS Mainous Arch G AG Jones David R DR Bankart M John MJ Stokes Tim T

BMJ open 20160211 2

<h4>Objectives</h4>Health systems with strong primary care tend to have better population outcomes, but in many countries demand for care is growing. We sought to identify mechanisms of primary care that influence premature mortality.<h4>Design</h4>We developed a conceptual model of the mechanisms by which primary care influences premature mortality, and undertook a cross-sectional study in which population and primary care variables reflecting the model were used to explain variations in mortal ...[more]

PMID: 26868945

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Project description:To identify features of primary care quality improvement associated with improved health outcomes using premature coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality as an example, and to determine impacts of different modelling approaches.Cross-sectional study of mortality rates in 229 general practices.General practices from three East Midlands primary care trusts.Patients registered to the practices above between April 2006 and March 2009.Numbers of CHD deaths in those aged under 75 (premature mortality) and at all ages in each practice.Population characteristics and markers of quality of primary care were associated with variations in premature CHD mortality. Increasing levels of deprivation, percentages of practice populations on practice diabetes registers, white, over 65 and male were all associated with increasing levels of premature CHD mortality. Control of serum cholesterol levels in those with CHD and the percentage of patients recalling access to their preferred general practitioner were both associated with decreased levels of premature CHD mortality. Similar results were found for all-age mortality. A combined measure of quality of primary care for CHD comprising 12 quality outcomes framework indicators was associated with decreases in both all-age and premature CHD mortality. The selected models suggest that practices in less deprived areas may have up to 20% lower premature CHD mortality than those with median deprivation and that improvement in the CHD care quality from 83% (lower quartile) to 86% (median) could reduce premature CHD mortality by 3.6%. Different modelling approaches yielded qualitatively similar results.High-quality primary care, including aspects of access to and continuity of care, detection and management, appears to be associated with reducing CHD mortality. The impact on premature CHD mortality is greater than on all-age CHD mortality. Determining the most useful measures of quality of primary care needs further consideration.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Primary care provides the foundation for most modern health-care systems, and in the interests of equity, it should be resourced according to local need. We aimed to describe spatially the burden of chronic conditions and primary medical care funding in England at a low geographical level, and to measure how much variation in funding is explained by chronic condition prevalence and other patient and regional factors. METHODS:We used multiple administrative data sets including chronic condition prevalence and management data (2014/15), funding for primary-care practices (2015-16), and geographical and area deprivation data (2015). Data were assigned to a low geographical level (average 1500 residents). We investigated the overall morbidity burden across 19 chronic conditions and its regional variation, spatial clustering and association with funding and area deprivation. A linear regression model was used to explain local variation in spending using patient demographics, morbidity, deprivation and regional characteristics. RESULTS:Levels of morbidity varied within and between regions, with several clusters of very high morbidity identified. At the regional level, morbidity was modestly associated with practice funding, with the North East and North West appearing underfunded. The regression model explained 39% of the variability in practice funding, but even after adjusting for covariates, a large amount of variability in funding existed across regions. High morbidity and, especially, rural location were very strongly associated with higher practice funding, while associations were more modest for high deprivation and older age. CONCLUSIONS:Primary care funding in England does not adequately reflect the contemporary morbidity burden. More equitable resource allocation could be achieved by making better use of routinely available information and big data resources. Similar methods could be deployed in other countries where comparable data are collected, to identify morbidity clusters and to target funding to areas of greater need.

Project description:The early identification of patients suffering from SARS-CoV-2 infection in primary care is of outmost importance in the current pandemic. The objective of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics of primary care patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. We conducted a cross-sectional study between March 24 and May 7, 2020, involving consecutive patients undergoing RT-PCR testing in two community-based laboratories in Lyon (France) for a suspicion of COVID-19. We examined the association between symptoms and a positive test using univariable and multivariable logistic regression, adjusted for clustering within laboratories, and calculated the diagnostic performance of these symptoms. Of the 1561 patients tested, 1543 patients (99%) agreed to participate. Among them, 253 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (16%). The three most frequently reported 'ear-nose-throat' and non-'ear-nose-throat' symptoms in patients who tested positive were dry throat (42%), loss of smell (36%) and loss of taste (31%), respectively fever (58%), cough (52%) and headache (45%). In multivariable analyses, loss of taste (OR 3.8 [95% CI 3.3-4.4], p-value < 0.001), loss of smell (OR 3.0 [95% CI 1.9-4.8], p < 0.001), muscle pain (OR 1.6 [95% CI 1.2-2.0], p = 0.001) and dry nose (OR 1.3 [95% CI 1.1-1.6], p = 0.01) were significantly associated with a positive result. In contrast, sore throat (OR 0.6 [95% CI 0.4-0.8], p = 0.003), stuffy nose (OR 0.6 [95% CI 0.6-0.7], p < 0.001), diarrhea (OR 0.6 [95% CI 0.5-0.6], p < 0.001) and dyspnea (OR 0.5 [95% CI 0.3-0.7], p < 0.001) were inversely associated with a positive test. The combination of loss of taste or smell had the highest diagnostic performance (OR 6.7 [95% CI 5.9-7.5], sensitivity 44.7% [95% CI 38.4-51.0], specificity 90.8% [95% CI 89.1-92.3]). No other combination of symptoms had a higher performance. Our data could contribute to the triage and early identification of new clusters of cases.

Project description:BackgroundThe patient portal allows patients to engage with their health care team beyond the clinical encounter. While portals can improve patient outcomes, there may be disparities in which patients access the portal by sociodemographic factors. Understanding the characteristics of patients who use the portal could help design future interventions to expand portal adoption.ObjectivesThis study aimed to (1) examine the socioeconomic factors, comorbid conditions, and health care utilization among patients of a large academic primary care network who are users and non-users of the patient portal; and (2) describe the portal functions most frequently utilized.MethodsWe included all adult patients at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist who had at least two primary care visits between 2018 and 2019. Patients' demographics, comorbidities, health care utilization, and portal function usage were extracted from the electronic health record and merged with census data (income, education, and unemployment) from the American Community Survey. A myWakeHealth portal user was defined as a patient who used a bidirectional portal function at least once during the study period. We used multivariable logistic regression to determine which patient characteristics were independently associated with being a portal user.ResultsOf the 178,720 patients who met inclusion criteria, 32% (N = 57,122) were users of myWakeHealth. Compared to non-users, users were more likely to be 18 to 64 years of age, female, non-Hispanic White, married, commercially insured, have higher disease burden, and have lower health care utilization. Patients residing in areas with the highest educational attainment had 51% higher odds of being a portal user than the lowest (p <0.001). Among portal users, the most commonly used function was messaging clinic providers.ConclusionWe found that patient demographics and area socioeconomic factors were associated with patient portal adoption. These findings suggest that efforts to improve portal adoption should be targeted at vulnerable patients.

Dataset Information

Population characteristics, mechanisms of primary care and premature mortality in England: a cross-sectional study.

Publications

Population characteristics, mechanisms of primary care and premature mortality in England: a cross-sectional study.

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