Exploring the associative relationship between general practice engagement and hospitalisation in older carers to potentially reduce hospital burden.

Abstract

Background Caregiving is an essential yet often overlooked component of health care. Although carers play a pivotal role in reducing healthcare costs and improving patient outcomes, they are also prone to psychological and physical burdens that can lead to their own hospitalisation. This study aimed to explore the relationship between the frequency of interactions with general practitioners and hospitalisation rates among caregivers aged ≥45years in New South Wales, Australia. Methods This cohort study retrospectively identified participants from the Sax Institute's 45 and Up Study in New South Wales, linked with national datasets. The cohort comprised 26,004 individuals aged ≥45years who were caregivers. The primary outcome was hospitalisation within a 7-year period, and the intervention was whether the patient was a high or low general practice (GP) user, ascertained by determining if the average number of annual GP visits was above or below 11, respectively. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and Poisson regression models. Results The study found a statistically significant association between high GP use and reduced rates of hospitalisation among caregivers. Caregivers with frequent GP interactions had a relative risk of hospitalisation of 0.514 (95% CI: 0.479-0.550) compared with their counterparts who infrequently used GP services. This association remained significant, even after adjusting for various demographic and health-related factors with an adjusted relative risk of 0.619 (95% CI: 0.554-0.690). Conclusions The findings underscore the potential of primary care interventions in reducing hospitalisations among caregivers, in turn providing economic and societal benefits. They also highlight the need for future research to understand the specific aspects of GP interactions that contribute to this protective effect.