Family medicine-directed hepatitis C care and barriers to treatment: a mixed-methods study.
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ABSTRACT: Background
Antivirals for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are effective, but many patients remain untreated and treatment is not yet routine in primary care. We evaluated the characteristics of patients who engaged in HCV treatment, and clinician perspectives on the barriers and facilitators to treatment.Methods
Our mixed-method, parallel-design study was conducted at a multisite primary care centre in downtown Toronto. In a retrospective chart review, we searched records from 2011 to 2017 to collect quantitative data, including HCV infection status and HCV treatment status. To contextualize the data, we conducted in-depth interviews with select physicians between Aug. 1 and Nov. 1, 2017, and analyzed the transcripts using content analysis.Results
Of the 40 381 charts reviewed, 727 patients (1.8%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.7%-1.9%) were infected with HCV, and 542 (74.6%) had HCV infection requiring treatment. Of those, 255 patients (47.0%) had engaged in treatment. Patients who had engaged in treatment were more likely to be male (odds ratio [OR] 1.63, 95% CI 1.10-2.42), older (OR 1.04 per year increase in age, 95% CI 1.02-1.05) and housed (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.36-3.75), and they were more likely not to have engaged in injection drug use (OR 1.87, 95% CI 1.33-2.63). Based on interviews with 8 physicians, treatment barriers included a lack of knowledge about HCV treatment, concerns that patients would not adhere to medications and challenges related to medication access. Facilitators of treatment included access to specialist consultation, pharmacist support and primary care treatment guidelines. Common themes that emerged in both quantitative and qualitative components were the roles of unstable housing and intravenous drug use as barriers to engaging in and completing treatment.Interpretation
Our study captured provider-identified barriers to HCV care and the key factors related to retention in HCV care, including gender, age, housing status and experience with drug use. Successful primary-care-led HCV treatment programs may incorporate specialist and pharmacy support and focus on younger, female, underhoused populations and people who use drugs.
SUBMITTER: von Aesch Z
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8034373 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:IntroductionFamily physicians or general practitioners play central roles in many countries' primary care systems, but family medicine (FM) remains relatively unestablished in Japan. Previous studies in Japan have examined the general population's understanding of FM as a medical specialty, but none have explored this topic using actual FM clinic patients. Here, we describe a protocol to explore the perceptions of FM among long-term patients of one of Japan's oldest FM clinics.Methods and analysisThe study will be conducted at the Motowanishi Family Clinic in Hokkaido, Japan, using patients who have attended the clinic for over 10 years. The analysis will adopt a two-phase explanatory sequential mixed methods design. During phase I, quantitative data from participants' medical records will be collected and reviewed, and patients' perceptions of FM will be assessed through a questionnaire. The correlations between participants' knowledge that the clinic specialises in FM and various characteristics will be examined. In phase II, qualitative data will be collected through semi-structured interviews of approximately 10 participants selected using maximum variation sampling based on phase I results. A thematic analysis will be conducted in phase II to identify patients' perceptions and changes in perceptions. Finally, each theme identified in phase II will be transformed into a quantitative variable to analyse the relationships between the phases. A joint display will be used to integrate the phases' findings and examine how phase II results explain phase I results.Ethics and disseminationThe institutional review board of the Japan Primary Care Association has approved this research (2019-003). The results will be presented at the association's annual academic meeting and submitted for publication in relevant journals. The findings will also be provided to the patients via the clinic's internal newsletter.
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Project description:BackgroundPreoperative medical consultations add expense and burden for patients and the impact of these consults on patient outcomes is conflicting. Previous work suggests that 10-40% of preoperative medical consult recommendations are not followed. This limits measurement of the effect of perioperative medical consultation on patient outcomes and represents a quality gap, given the patient time and healthcare cost associated with consultation. We aimed to measure, characterize, and understand reasons for missed recommendations from preoperative medical consultation.MethodsThis explanatory, sequential mixed-methods study used chart audits followed by semi-structured interviews. Chart audit of consecutive patients seen in preoperative medical clinic were reviewed to measure the proportion and characterize the type of recommendations that were not completed ("missed"). This phase informed the interview participants and questions. The interview guide was developed using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and the Theoretical Domains Framework. Template analysis was used to understand drivers and barriers of missed recommendations RESULTS: Chart audit included 255 patients (n=161, 63.1% female) seen in preadmission clinic between April 1 and April 30, 2019. 55.7% of patients had all recommendations followed (n=142). Postoperative anticoagulation management and postoperative cardiac biomarker surveillance recommendations were least commonly followed (50.0%, n=28, and 68.9%, n=82, respectively). Eighteen surgical team members were interviewed. Missed recommendations were both unintentional and intentional, and the key drivers differed by these categories. Unintentionally missed recommendations occurred due to individual-level factors (drivers: knowledge of the consultation note, lack of routine for reviewing the consultation note, and competing demands on time) and systems-level factors (driver: lack of role clarity). Intentionally missed recommendations occurred due to user error due (drivers: lack of knowledge of guidelines or evidence) and appropriate modifications (driver: need to adapt a preoperative plan for a complicated postoperative course).ConclusionsOnly 55.7% of consult notes had all recommendations followed, suggesting a quality gap in perioperative medical care. Qualitative data suggests multiple drivers of missed recommendations that should be targeted to improve the efficiency of care for these patients.
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Project description:IntroductionSomatoform or somatic symptom disorders ((S)SD) are common and have a negative impact on the patients' health-related quality of life, healthcare use and costs. In primary care, which is central to the management of (S)SD, diagnosis and treatment tend to be delayed. There is a significant lack of evidence regarding the barriers in the diagnostic process of (S)SD in primary care and how interventions should be tailored to address them. The aim of this study is to analyse the diagnostic process in primary care that results in the diagnosis or non-diagnosis of a (S)SD.Methods and analysisThis mixed methods study will investigate the topic with qualitative methods, subsequently proceeding to a quantitative phase where the initial results will be validated and/or generalised. First, focus groups will explore meanings and patterns, inconsistencies and conflicts in general practitioners' (GPs) thoughts and behaviours when diagnosing (S)SD. Second, the results of these focus groups will be used to develop interview guidelines for subsequent face-to-face interviews. Patients and their treating GPs will be interviewed separately on how they experience the history of illness, the diagnostic process and treatment. Third, based on the results of the first two study parts, a questionnaire will be derived and a nationwide survey among German GPs will be conducted, quantifying the barriers and difficulties identified before.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the Hamburg Medical Association, Germany (approval number PV4763). The results of this study will be disseminated through conference presentation and publications in peer-reviewed journals.Trial registration numberThe study is registered in the German Clinical Trial Register (DRKS), DRKS-ID DRKS00009736.
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Project description:BackgroundEvidence suggests there are important personal and social consequences associated with inadequate retirement planning for physicians. We evaluated whether academic physicians felt satisfied with their retirement planning, and identified obstacles to retirement planning and a set of factors to facilitate retirement planning.MethodsWe applied a sequential mixed-methods research design to explore and examine factors that facilitate academic physician retirement planning using data collected from multiple sources (including 7 focus groups, an internet-based survey and 23 in-depth interviews). We examined survey results regarding retirement planning satisfaction and preferences for complete versus gradual retirement. We used thematic analysis to examine verbatim transcripts and notes from the focus groups and interviews.ResultsSurvey data (response rate 51%) indicated that 10% of respondents were very satisfied with their retirement planning and 89.5% would prefer to retire gradually rather than stop work completely. Key barriers to retirement planning that emerged included poor personal financial management, rigid institutional structures and professional norms. Facilitators included financial planning resources for physicians at multiple career stages, opportunities and resources for later-career transitions and later-career mentorship support for intergenerational collaboration, and recognition of retirees.InterpretationKey findings highlight perceived barriers to retirement planning at various career stages in addition to factors that can enhance physicians' retirement planning, including creating gradual and flexible retirement options, supporting ongoing discussions about financial planning and later career transitions, and fostering a culture that continues to honour and involve retirees. Medical institutions could foster innovative models for later-career transitions from medicine in ways that address physicians' needs at various career stages, support gradual transitions from practice and recognize the value of experienced, capable later-career physicians and retirees.
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