BJGP Open最新文献

{"title":"General Practice Community Pharmacist Consultation Service: an exploratory patient survey.","authors":"Julia Gauly, Catherine Grimley, Jeremy Dale, Paramjit Gill, Helen Atherton","doi":"10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0204","DOIUrl":"10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0204","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The General Practice Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (GPCPCS) was established to allow patients with certain minor illnesses to be referred to a community pharmacy for assessment and treatment.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To explore patients' experiences of the GPCPCS.</p><p><strong>Design & setting: </strong>An online survey in two regions of England.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Twenty-five general practices invited patients to take part in an exploratory survey. Descriptive statistics were used for the analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The response rate was 5.1% (72/1423). Prior to contacting their general practice, 14.1% (9/64) of patients had tried to speak to a pharmacist. Most responders accepted the GPCPCS referral (77.3%, 51/66); received a pharmacy consultation on the same day (80.0%, 40/50); and were largely satisfied with the amount of time the pharmacist spent with them (82.5%, 33/40), the consultation format (68.3%, 28/41), and the privacy provided during the consultation (80.9%, 38/47). However, most responders (56.5%, 39/69) felt poorly informed by the general practice on why they were being advised to speak to a pharmacist and did not feel that it was appropriate that they had been advised to speak to a community pharmacist (54.2%, 39/72). Only 33.3% (16/48) felt that their consultation fully met their health needs and 27.1% (13/48) of patients described being re-referred from pharmacy back to their general practice.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>In this exploratory study patients were largely accepting of the GPCPCS. Improvements in terms of explaining GPCPCS to patients, selecting patients appropriate for referral to the service, and the appointment process may be of benefit.</p>","PeriodicalId":36541,"journal":{"name":"BJGP Open","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12421265/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142839826","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Treatment patterns and burden of uncomplicated urinary tract infection in England: a retrospective cohort study.","authors":"Mark H Wilcox, Dave Heaton, Aruni Mulgirigama, Ashish V Joshi, Viktor Chirikov, Daniel C Gibbons, David Webb, Xiaocong L Marston, Myriam Na Alexander, Fanny S Mitrani-Gold","doi":"10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0214","DOIUrl":"10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0214","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Uncomplicated urinary tract infections (uUTIs) are common bacterial infections.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To evaluate the burden of uUTI in England for 1) potential determinants of disease progression; 2) extent and impact of antimicrobial prescribing non-concordant with treatment guidelines; and 3) healthcare burden and economic costs.</p><p><strong>Design & setting: </strong>Retrospective cohort study utilising patient data (January 2017-February 2020) from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) linked to English Hospital Episode Statistics.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Female patients aged ≥12 years with a new uUTI between 2018 and 2019, ≥14 months' continuous CPRD enrolment (≥12 months baseline, ≥2 months follow-up), and ≥1 oral antibiotic prescription ±5 days of uUTI diagnosis were included. Baseline characteristics were described in patients with or without disease progression (hospitalisation for acute pyelonephritis, bacteraemia, or sepsis). Treatment non-concordance with current English guidelines was assessed. Burden (all-cause and urinary tract infection-related healthcare resource use [HCRU] and costs) was evaluated in a 1:1 age and comorbidity-matched uUTI-free cohort.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of 120 519 patients, 207 (0.2%) had disease progression requiring hospitalisation (during index uUTI episode); determinants included older age, index uUTI home consultation, prior hospitalisation, and medications prescribed for comorbid conditions in the prior 12 months (<i>British National Formulary</i> classes: cardiovascular system, eye, and other drugs and preparations). Non-concordant treatment was observed in 43.5% of patients. All-cause HCRU burden and costs were significantly higher in patients with uUTI versus age and comorbidity-matched controls (<i>P</i><0.001) at 28 days (£160.06 versus £37.63) and in the 12-month follow-up (£1206.77 versus £460.97).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>All-cause HCRU burden and costs were significantly higher in patients with uUTI versus matched controls (<i>P</i><0.001). Hospitalisation for acute pyelonephritis, bacteraemia, or sepsis following uUTI was uncommon.</p>","PeriodicalId":36541,"journal":{"name":"BJGP Open","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12421281/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142819530","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Diabetes complications in people with alcohol use disorder and type 2 diabetes.","authors":"Sarah Cook, Sonia Saxena, Rohini Mathur, Thomas Beaney, Shamini Gnani, Ana Luisa Neves, Arti Maini, Ravi Parekh, Kate Walters, David Osborn, Jennifer K Quint","doi":"10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0133","DOIUrl":"10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0133","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>People living with alcohol use disorder (AUD) who develop type 2 diabetes (T2DM) may be at higher risk of diabetes complications.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>Our aim was to compare diabetes monitoring and incidence of diabetes complications between people with and without AUD prior to T2DM diagnosis attending primary care in England.</p><p><strong>Design & setting: </strong>We used the Clinical Practice Research Datalink Aurum linked with Hospital Episode Statistics and Office for National Statistics mortality data. The target population was people with incident T2DM diagnosed between 2004 and 2019.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>We defined AUD from codes indicating i) clinical diagnosis; ii) alcohol withdrawal; or iii) chronic alcohol-related harm. Outcomes were end-stage renal disease (ESRD), lower limb amputation, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, and all-cause mortality. We compared yearly HbA1c, creatinine, and cholesterol monitoring activities for the first 5 years post T2DM diagnosis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The study population was 543 509 people, of whom 15 237 (2.8%) had a code for AUD. Adjusting for measured confounders, people with AUD had higher rates of ESRD ( incidence rate ratio [IRR] 1.95, 95% confidence intervals [CI] = 1.71 to 2.23), lower limb amputation (IRR 1.78, 95% CI = 1.50 to 2.21), stroke (IRR 1.36, 95% CI = 1.25 to 1.47), CVD mortality (IRR 1.74, 95% CI = 1.63 to 1.86), and all-cause mortality (IRR 2.10, 95% CI = 2.04 to 2.17) but not MI (IRR 0.91, 95% CI = 0.82 to 1.00) compared with people without AUD. Laboratory diabetes monitoring was high in people with (83.5-91.1%) and without (83.7-92.4%) AUD.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>People with AUD had nearly double the rates of most of the diabetes complications investigated compared with people without AUD.</p>","PeriodicalId":36541,"journal":{"name":"BJGP Open","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12421267/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143013406","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploring patients' and carers' experiences, understandings and expectations of COPD exacerbations:an interview study.","authors":"Ann Hutchinson, Richard Russell, Helena Cummings, Omar Usmani, Sarah MacFadyen, Judith Cohen, Tamsin Morris, Hana Muellerova, Yang Xu, Gary Hellens, Kay Roy, Michael G Crooks","doi":"10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0026","DOIUrl":"10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations are clinically significant events that affect millions of people globally.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To explore patients' and carers' experiences, understanding, and expectations of, as well as their responses to, exacerbations.</p><p><strong>Design & setting: </strong>Semi-structured interviews conducted with patients who have COPD and their carers from four sites across England.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of patients with COPD and their carers recruited from four sites in England: two in Yorkshire, one in Hampshire and one in London. Interviews were theoretically informed by the Breathing Space concept and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. This research is reported in line with the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Forty patient participants were recruited: 21 were female, 28 were White, with a mean age 69 years (standard deviation [SD] = 8.1 years), mean COPD duration = 11.3 years (SD = 8.3 years), median exacerbations in past year = 1.5 (range 0-9). Seven carer participants were recruited; of these, six were female and six were White. Three themes were identified: the language that clinicians use in COPD is important; episodes of symptom worsening have profound impacts on patients and carers; and patients' early experiences, including the responses of clinicians to their help-seeking, have a lasting effect on their behaviour. How patients respond to symptom worsening can be considered holistically in the context of the Breathing Space framework. Breathlessness affected all patient participants and was a key symptom that precipitated action.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our findings show how early help-seeking experiences shape later behaviour. Early emphasis on symptom management, preparation for exacerbations, and post-exacerbation reviews are practical ways that clinicians can support patients and carers to manage these events better. The Breathing Space concept provides a useful framework to identify needs and tailor COPD management appropriately.</p>","PeriodicalId":36541,"journal":{"name":"BJGP Open","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12421282/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142751903","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"General practitioners' perspectives regarding suicide prevention: a systematic scoping review.","authors":"Jack Marshall, Phillip Oliver, Joe Hulin, Vyv Huddy, Caroline Mitchell","doi":"10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0225","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0225","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Suicide is a major public health issue. Up to a third of patients will visit their General Practitioner (GP) in the month leading up to a suicide attempt, thus highlighting the key role GPs play in suicide prevention.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>This systematic scoping review aimed to explore the qualitative research on GPs' perspectives of suicide prevention in primary care.</p><p><strong>Design & setting: </strong>A systematic scoping review of qualitative studies relating to the research question.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>This review is reported in accordance with PRISMA-ScR guidance. Articles at full-text review were assessed for inclusion in the study against eligibility criteria (english language, qualitative research, focus on GPs perspectives of suicide prevention). Data were extracted using a standardised form and a thematic synthesis approach was used to describe the themes elicited from the studies.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>2210 abstracts were screened. Twelve studies from seven countries were included at full text review. Four main themes were elicited: challenges to managing suicidal behaviour, fragmented relationships with mental health services, personal attitudes of GPs regarding suicidal behaviour and identified needs to improve suicide prevention in primary care.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Understanding GPs' perspectives can lead to improved training, resources, and support for primary care professionals, who are frontline providers of mental healthcare. This scoping review suggested there is a lack of evidence around what approaches GPs find effective in managing suicidality and how relationships can be strengthened with mental health services to deliver person-centred integrated care for those identified at risk of suicide.</p>","PeriodicalId":36541,"journal":{"name":"BJGP Open","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144699792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Clinical decision making and risk appraisal using electronic risk assessment tools for cancer diagnosis: a qualitative study of GP experiences.","authors":"Alex Burns, Emily Fletcher, Elizabeth Shephard, Raff Calitri, Mark Tarrant, Adrian Mercer, William Hamilton, Sarah Dean","doi":"10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0243","DOIUrl":"10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0243","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Electronic risk assessment tools (eRATs) are intended to improve early primary care cancer diagnosis. eRATs, which interrupt a consultation to suggest a possibility of a cancer diagnosis, could impact clinical appraisal and the experience of the consultation. This study explores this issue using data collected within the context of the Electronic RIsk-assessment for CAncer (ERICA) trial.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To explore views and experiences of GPs who used the ERICA eRATs, how the tools impacted their perception of risk and diagnostic thinking, and how this was communicated to patients.</p><p><strong>Design & setting: </strong>Qualitative interviews with GPs from English general practices undertaking the ERICA trial.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Participants were purposefully sampled from practices participating in the intervention arm of the ERICA trial. Eighteen GPs undertook semi-structured interviews via Microsoft Teams. Thematic analysis was used to explore their perspectives of the impact of the eRATs on consultations, diagnostic thinking related to cancer and other conditions, and how this information is communicated to patients.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The following three themes were developed: 1) the armoury, whereby eRATs were perceived as 'additional armour', offering a layer of protection against missing a cancer diagnosis, the defence coming at a cost of anxiety and complexity of consultation; 2) 'three heads' making a decision. eRATs were seen as another actor in the consultation, separate from clinician and patient, and challenging GP autonomy; and 3) for whom is the eRAT output intended? GPs were conflicted about whether the numerical eRAT outputs were helpful when communicating with patients.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>eRATs are appreciated as a defence against missing a cancer diagnosis. This defence comes at a cost and challenges GPs' freedom in communication and decision making.</p>","PeriodicalId":36541,"journal":{"name":"BJGP Open","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12421273/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142683010","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"'The doctors were more knowledgeable about what I had': patient views on the value of point-of-care tests for managing respiratory infections. A qualitative study in European primary care.","authors":"Marta Wanat, Melanie Eugenie Hoste, Marilena Anastasaki, Femke Böhmer, Annelies Colliers, Maria Gkamaletsou, Christin Löffler, Christos Lionis, Lile Malania, Mala Shah, Anja Wollny, Akke Vellinga, Christopher C Butler, Alike W van der Velden, Sibyl Anthierens, Sarah Tonkin-Crine","doi":"10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0139","DOIUrl":"10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0139","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Point-of-care tests (POCT) can support diagnosis of patients with community-acquired acute respiratory tract infections (CA-RTI) in primary care and thereby reduce uncertainty whether antibiotics may benefit patients. However, successful roll out of POCTs need to be built on a deep understanding of patients' perspectives on the place of POCTs in patient-centred care.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To explore patients' perceptions of the value of POCTs during consultations for CA-RTI.</p><p><strong>Design & setting: </strong>A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews in Belgium, Republic of Ireland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, and the UK with patients who consulted for CA-RTI in primary care.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Interviews with 56 participants revealed that in the process of a GP making a diagnosis and treatment decision, patients valued several components, such as a physical examination, their GP enquiring about and listening to concerns, and a POCT. Yet, the visibility and relative importance of each of these components varied in the four main ways in which patients perceived the value of POCTs, including 1) test as objective evidence compared to 'subjective' clinical judgment; 2) test as providing more precision; 3) test as inferior to clinical judgment; 4) test as one of the tools in the GP's toolbox.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The wide variation in patient perceptions about POCT for CA-RTI underscores the importance of recognising patient preferences regarding the diagnostic process. This understanding is important to ensure that POCT results optimally influence treatment decision-making, patient satisfaction, and acceptance of their care plan.</p>","PeriodicalId":36541,"journal":{"name":"BJGP Open","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12421285/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142773255","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Declining number of home visits to older adults by GPs: an observational study using data from electronic health records in The Netherlands, 2017-2023.","authors":"Chantal J Leemrijse, Marianne J Heins, Bart J Knottnerus, Mariette Hooiveld, Judith N de Boer, Ron F Schipper, Joost W Vanhommerig","doi":"10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0255","DOIUrl":"10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0255","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Despite an ageing population that has higher care demands, home visits by GPs have been declining.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To analyse the number of GP home visits from 2017-2023 in The Netherlands, and to investigate whether this trend differed according to age, sex, multimorbidity, and neighbourhood deprivation. In addition, to discover the most common reasons for home visits between 2017 and 2023.</p><p><strong>Design & setting: </strong>An observational study that used data derived from Nivel Primary Care Database (Nivel-PCD), which contained routinely recorded data from approximately 500 Dutch GP practices.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>The number of home visits was calculated by age, sex, multimorbidity, and neighbourhood deprivation. Visual inspection was used to investigate the relation between the trend in number of home visits and age, sex, multimorbidity, and neighbourhood deprivation of patients.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A large decrease in the overall number of home visits was observed between 2017 and 2023 (-32%). The largest decrease was between 2019 and 2020 (-15%), but the downward trend continued in 2021 through 2023 (-5% per year). The most profound decline between 2023 and 2017 was found in the number of short home visits (-52%). The number of home visits for intensive GP care increased by 12% between 2017 and 2023.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>We report a continuing decline in the number of home visits by GPs, comparing 2023 with 2017. Home visits for intensive GP care, often for patients at the end of life, increased since 2017. GPs may be forced to make choices owing to the increasing workload.</p>","PeriodicalId":36541,"journal":{"name":"BJGP Open","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12421280/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143755050","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Discussing poverty within primary care consultations: implications for mental health support.","authors":"Felicity Thomas, Katrina Wyatt, Kathryn Berzins, Ilse Lee, Jane Horrell, Alison McLoughlin","doi":"10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0249","DOIUrl":"10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0249","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Poverty can have significant impacts on health and wellbeing. However, asking patients about their broader socioeconomic circumstances is not routine within primary care consultations.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To understand healthcare professionals' experiences of communicating with patients about their socioeconomic circumstances and how a bespoke training programme supported these conversations in routine consultations.</p><p><strong>Design & setting: </strong>Healthcare professionals from 30 GP practices across England received training to improve understanding and communication with patients about the ways that poverty impacted their mental health.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 49 GPs and allied health professionals to understand barriers and enablers to communication around poverty and the impact of the training on their consultation practice.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Health professionals often lacked confidence in discussing socioeconomic issues and welcomed information on how to do this sensitively. Asking questions about poverty-related stresses was felt to lead to better understanding of the causes of mental distress, avoidance of problematic assumptions and inappropriate antidepressant prescribing, and to enable more coordinated and appropriate support from practice teams.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Asking patients about their socioeconomic circumstances can facilitate provision of appropriate support.</p>","PeriodicalId":36541,"journal":{"name":"BJGP Open","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12421269/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142683012","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Factors influencing medical students career intentions in Flanders, Estonia, and Hungary: a multivariable analysis.","authors":"Marta Velgan, Peter Vajer, Nele R Michels, Mart Einasto, Ruth Kalda","doi":"10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0087","DOIUrl":"10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0087","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The career decisions of medical students are pivotal in shaping the future healthcare workforce. In many countries, the number of medical students who choose general practice as their career is insufficient to meet the needs of the healthcare system.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To describe the factors influencing medical students' career intentions and their preference for a career in general practice.</p><p><strong>Design & setting: </strong>A cross-sectional study involving medical students from Flanders (Belgium), Estonia, and Hungary.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>An online questionnaire, which was sent to undergraduate medical students, was used to gather data. Multivariable logistic regression was conducted.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Altogether 1601 medical students participated in this study, which found that 18.5% of the participants were interested in general practice. Factors related to medical students and the curriculum that predicted the interest in general practice were being a woman, being a medical student from Flanders, being a sixth-year medical student, coming from a rural area, and having GP role models. Students preferring general practice named the following factors as important: short and low-intensity training programme; having long-term and close relationship with patients; continuity of care; regular and flexible working hours; and opportunities to achieve work-life balance.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study adds further evidence of which characteristics and factors can predict medical students' interest in general practice; having GP role models being the most important predictor. Further research into which qualities medical students value in their role models could give us better understanding on how we can support GPs to be better advocates for their specialty and thereby help increase interest in general practice.</p>","PeriodicalId":36541,"journal":{"name":"BJGP Open","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12421277/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142629636","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}