BMC primary carePub Date : 2024-09-07DOI: 10.1186/s12875-024-02565-4
Claudia Der-Martirosian, Caroline K Yoo, W Neil Steers, Cynthia G Hou, Karen Chu, Jacqueline Ferguson, Maia Carter, Leonie Heyworth, Lucinda B Leung
{"title":"Primary care team characteristics associated with video use: a retrospective national study at the Veterans Health Administration.","authors":"Claudia Der-Martirosian, Caroline K Yoo, W Neil Steers, Cynthia G Hou, Karen Chu, Jacqueline Ferguson, Maia Carter, Leonie Heyworth, Lucinda B Leung","doi":"10.1186/s12875-024-02565-4","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12875-024-02565-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>To examine primary care (PC) team members' characteristics associated with video use at the Veterans Health Administration (VA).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>VA electronic data were used to identify PC team characteristics associated with any video-based PC visit, during the three-year study period (3/15/2019-3/15/2022). Multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression models on repeated yearly observations were used, adjusting for patient- and healthcare system-level characteristics, and study year. We included five PC team categories: 1.PC providers (PCP), which includes physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, 2.Nurses (RN/LVN/LPN/other nurses), 3.Mental health (MH) specialists, 4.Social workers (SW), and 5.Clinical pharmacists (PharmD).</p><p><strong>Population: </strong>54,494 PC care team members nationwide (61,728,154 PC visits; 4,916,960 patients), including 14,422 PCPs, 30,273 nurses, 2,721 MH specialists, 4,065 SWs, and 3,013 PharmDs.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The mean age was 46.1(SD = 11.3) years; 77.1% were women. Percent of video use among PC team members varied from 24 to 84%. In fully adjusted models, older clinicians were more likely to use video compared to the youngest age group (18-29 years old) (example: 50-59 age group: OR = 1.12,95%CI:1.07-1.18). Women were more likely to use video (OR = 1.18, 95%CI:1.14-1.22) compared to men. MH specialists (OR = 7.87,95%CI:7.32-8.46), PharmDs (OR = 1.16,95%CI:1.09-1.25), and SWs (OR = 1.51,95%CI:1.41-1.61) were more likely, whereas nurses (OR = 0.65,95%CI:0.62-0.67) were less likely to use video compared to PCPs.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study highlights more video use among MH specialists, SWs, and PharmDs, and less video use among nurses compared to PCPs. Older and women clinicians, regardless of their role, used more video. This study helps to inform the care coordination of video-based delivery among interdisciplinary PC team members.</p>","PeriodicalId":72428,"journal":{"name":"BMC primary care","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11380331/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142147027","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}
BMC primary carePub Date : 2024-09-06DOI: 10.1186/s12875-024-02591-2
Xue Jin, Zihan Pan, Shuxiao Hou, Hui Pang, Aimei Dong, Lin Hu, Steven Brown, Gail Plester, Chunhua Chi
{"title":"The roles and responsibilities of general practice nurses in China: a qualitative study.","authors":"Xue Jin, Zihan Pan, Shuxiao Hou, Hui Pang, Aimei Dong, Lin Hu, Steven Brown, Gail Plester, Chunhua Chi","doi":"10.1186/s12875-024-02591-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12875-024-02591-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>General hospitals in China have been establishing General Practice Departments (GPD). Although General Practice Nurses (GPNs) are an important part of this medical system, their training has not been synchronised. This study explored the working status of nurses in GPDs in general hospitals in Beijing to provide a theoretical basis for the training and development of GPNs in China.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted in-depth, individual interviews with outpatient nurses at 19 hospitals in Beijing between March and April 2021. We employed a qualitative analysis to interpret participant narratives and used a codebook thematic analysis to analyse the interview data and extract themes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The analysis revealed four themes: (i) a lack of full-time GPNs in GPDs of most tertiary hospitals, (ii) the inability of GPNs to fully express their potential and skills owing to their limited roles, (iii) insufficient standardised patient education provided by nurses in GPDs, and (iv) a lack of systematic and relevant training for nurses working in general practice settings.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>To promote the development of GPNs, GPDs in general hospitals in China should hire full-time GPNs, define their job duties in alignment with their values, and provide standardised training to strengthen their core competencies.</p>","PeriodicalId":72428,"journal":{"name":"BMC primary care","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11378389/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142147028","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":"Growing inequities by immigration group among older adults: population-based analysis of access to primary care and return to in-person visits during the COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia, Canada.","authors":"Cecilia Sierra-Heredia, Elmira Tayyar, Yasmin Bozorgi, Padmini Thakore, Selamawit Hagos, Ruth Carrillo, Stefanie Machado, Sandra Peterson, Shira Goldenberg, Mei-Ling Wiedmeyer, M Ruth Lavergne","doi":"10.1186/s12875-024-02530-1","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12875-024-02530-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic drove a rapid and widespread shift to virtual care, followed by a gradual return to in-person visits. Virtual visits may offer more convenient access to care for some, but others may experience challenges accessing care virtually, and some medical needs must be met in-person. Experiences of the shift to virtual care and benefits of in-person care may vary by immigration experience (immigration status and duration), official language level, and age. We examined use of virtual care and return to in-person visits in the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC), comparing patterns by age and across immigration groups, including length of time in Canada and language level (official languages English and French) at time of arrival.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We used linked administrative health and immigration data to examine total primary care visits (virtual or in-person) and return to in-person visits during the COVID-19 pandemic (2019/20-2021/2) in BC. We examined the proportion of people with any primary care visits and with any in-person visits within each year as measures of access to primary care. We estimated the odds of any primary care visits and any in-person visits by immigration group and official language level assessed prior to arrival: non-immigrants, long-term immigrants, recent immigrants (< 5 years) with high assessed official language level and recent immigrants (< 5 years) with low assessed official language level (assessed prior to arrival), stratified by age.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In general, changes in access to primary care (odds of any visits and odds of any in-person visits) were similar across immigration groups over the study period. However, we observed substantial disparities in access to primary care by immigration group among people aged 60 + , particularly in recent immigrants with low official language level (0.42, 0.40-0.45). These disparities grew wider over the course of the pandemic.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Though among younger adults changes in access to primary care between 2019-2021 were similar across immigration groups, we observed significant and growing inequities among older adults, with particularly limited access among adults who immigrated recently and with low assessed official language level. Targeted interventions to ensure acceptable, accessible care for older immigrants are needed.</p>","PeriodicalId":72428,"journal":{"name":"BMC primary care","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11378608/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142147026","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}
BMC primary carePub Date : 2024-09-05DOI: 10.1186/s12875-024-02580-5
Sarah C Jones, Sarah Nutter, Jessica F Saunders
{"title":"\"The healthcare system did fail me repeatedly\": a qualitative study on experiences of healthcare among Canadian women with Cushing's syndrome.","authors":"Sarah C Jones, Sarah Nutter, Jessica F Saunders","doi":"10.1186/s12875-024-02580-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12875-024-02580-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>As a rare endocrine disorder, Cushing's Syndrome (Cushing's) is characterized by numerous symptoms and a non-specific presentation, leading to a delay to diagnosis for patients with this disease. To date, research examining the lived experiences of patients with Cushing's in healthcare is absent in the literature. This preliminary inquiry into the healthcare experiences of women with Cushing's aimed to examine the utility of this line of inquiry to support the patient centered care of individuals with Cushing's.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Seven women from across Canada with endogenous Cushing's participated in the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted examining participants' healthcare and body-related experiences with Cushing's. Results pertaining to healthcare experiences were analyzed for the current study using reflexive thematic analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Four themes emerged whereby women with Cushing's experienced (1) a lack of patient centered care, characterized by provider miscommunication and medical gaslighting; (2) a misunderstanding of their symptoms as related to weight gain; (3) weight stigma in healthcare encounters; and (4) a shift in their quality of care following diagnosis.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The results highlight the importance of patient centered care as well as the negative impact of commonly reported barriers to patient centered care. Cushing's specific barriers to patient centered care may include weight stigma as well as the rare incidence of Cushing's. Further research is needed to better understand the healthcare experiences of people with Cushing's in Canada.</p>","PeriodicalId":72428,"journal":{"name":"BMC primary care","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11375819/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142141873","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}
BMC primary carePub Date : 2024-09-05DOI: 10.1186/s12875-024-02558-3
Kasumi Nishikawa, Ryuichi Ohta, Chiaki Sano
{"title":"The effect of management of older patients with heart failure by general physicians on mortality and hospitalization rates: a retrospective cohort study.","authors":"Kasumi Nishikawa, Ryuichi Ohta, Chiaki Sano","doi":"10.1186/s12875-024-02558-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12875-024-02558-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The prevalence of heart failure is increasing owing to the aging of the population, resulting in growing medical costs and an increasing number of patients with multimorbidity. The optimal management of heart failure by general physicians in addition to internal medicine physicians, such as cardiologists, is essential, although the specifics are unclear. In this study, we aimed to determine the differences in heart failure management outcomes among older patients between those managed by general physicians and those managed by internal medicine physicians, especially in terms of hospitalization and mortality rates.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This was a retrospective cohort study of patients with heart failure who visited a community hospital in Japan. Patients with heart failure were selected based on International Classification of Diseases codes from electronic medical record data over 9 years, from September 2015 to August 2023. The independent variables were whether a general physician treated the patient; the primary outcome was death; the secondary outcome was hospitalization; and the covariates were patient background, including comorbidities. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between being managed by a general physician and death and hospitalization, after adjusting for confounding factors.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 1032 patients with heart failure were identified, with a mean age of 82.4 years, and 48.9% were men. Patients treated by general physicians were older, were more likely to have dementia and were more likely to need care than those treated by internal medicine physicians. Being treated by a general physician was significantly negatively associated with death (odds ratio [OR], 0.62) and hospitalization (OR, 0.73).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In Japan, where medical specialties are increasingly differentiated, the comprehensive management of older patients with heart failure and multiple comorbidities by general physicians may reduce hospitalization and mortality rates. Appropriate education of general physicians and an increase in their numbers may prove essential for the successful management of patients with heart failure in aging communities.</p>","PeriodicalId":72428,"journal":{"name":"BMC primary care","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11378556/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142141875","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}
BMC primary carePub Date : 2024-09-05DOI: 10.1186/s12875-024-02578-z
Róbert Kiss-Kovács, Blanka Morvai-Illés, Albert Varga, Gergely Ágoston
{"title":"Is it worth trying? A cross-sectional study on the implementation of point-of-care ultrasound in Hungarian primary care.","authors":"Róbert Kiss-Kovács, Blanka Morvai-Illés, Albert Varga, Gergely Ágoston","doi":"10.1186/s12875-024-02578-z","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12875-024-02578-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Although the number of point-of-care ultrasound devices available in Hungarian primary care practices are increasing due to government funding, their use in day-to-day patient care is limited and unregulated. Our study aimed to evaluate the attitudes and needs of general practitioners (GPs) and patients in Hungary regarding the introduction of bedside ultrasonography in primary care practices.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>As a part of a cross-sectional study, an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire was distributed to GPs and patients on a social media platform. Data collection was carried out from August 2023 to October 2023. Chi-square test was used to determine the associations between categorical variables.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The survey was completed by 415 GPs (mean age 53.8 ± 11.1 years, 54.9% female, mean 19.5 ± 11.9 years of practice) and 693 patients (mean age 45.5 ± 12.3 years, 95.2% female). There was a statistically significant increase in interest in PoCUS among young and middle-aged GPs (age 28-59; p = 0.02). In addition, this population of GPs was also more likely to undertake training in PoCUS than their older colleagues (p < 0.0001). An inverse relationship was found between the duration of practice and training willingness (p = 0.0011). Even with the government's financial support, only 8.2% of GPs currently use PoCUS in a daily basis, and 59.5% of GPs are unfamiliar with the indications and the ways of using it. Patients would even pay to have the examination done in a primary care setting, even though only 45.9% of patients would pay a GP who is not certified in PoCUS, but the willingness to pay increased to 99.4% for those with formal training (p = 0.024).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our findings indicate a significant interest in adapting PoCUS in primary care from both GPs and patients. Based on the fact that a significant proportion of Hungarian GPs are unaware of PoCUS and its indications, it is particularly important to develop educational frameworks, and practical guidelines for the effective incorporation of PoCUS in Hungary.</p>","PeriodicalId":72428,"journal":{"name":"BMC primary care","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11375868/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142141874","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}
BMC primary carePub Date : 2024-09-04DOI: 10.1186/s12875-024-02567-2
Prince Peprah, Jane Lloyd, David Ajak Ajang, Mark F Harris
{"title":"A qualitative study of negative sociocultural experiences of accessing primary health care services among Africans from refugee backgrounds in Australia: implications for organisational health literacy.","authors":"Prince Peprah, Jane Lloyd, David Ajak Ajang, Mark F Harris","doi":"10.1186/s12875-024-02567-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12875-024-02567-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Primary health care is the first point of contact for patients from refugee backgrounds in the Australian health system. Sociocultural factors, including beliefs and value systems, are salient determinants of health literacy and access to primary health care services. Although African refugees in Australia have diverse sociocultural backgrounds, little is known about the influence of sociocultural factors on their experiences of accessing primary health care services. Guided by the theoretical framework of access to health care, this study examined from the perspective of African refugees how culturally and religiously conditioned, constructed and bound health beliefs, knowledge and practices influence their experiences of access to, acceptance and use of primary health care services and information in Australia.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This exploratory, qualitative study involved 19 African refugees from nine countries living in New South Wales, Australia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and recorded using Zoom software. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using a bottom-up thematic analytical approach for theme generation.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Four main themes were identified. The themes included: participants' experiences of services as inaccessible and monocultural and providing information in a culturally unsafe and insensitive manner; the impact of the clinical care environment; meeting expectations and needs; and overcoming access challenges and reclaiming power and autonomy through familiar means. The findings generally support four dimensions in the access to health care framework, including approachability, acceptability, availability and accommodation and appropriateness.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>African refugees experience significant social and cultural challenges in accessing primary health care services. These challenges could be due to a lack of literacy on the part of health services and their providers in servicing the needs of African refugees. This is an important finding that needs to be addressed by the Australian health care system and services. Enhancing organisational health literacy through evidence-informed strategies in primary health systems and services can help reduce disparities in health access and outcomes that may be exacerbated by cultural, linguistic and religious differences.</p>","PeriodicalId":72428,"journal":{"name":"BMC primary care","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11375895/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142134636","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}
BMC primary carePub Date : 2024-09-04DOI: 10.1186/s12875-024-02577-0
Zainab Meer, Ebaa Al-Ozairi, Genevie Fernandes, Sruthi Ranganathan, Jay Patel
{"title":"Information behaviours of people with type 2 diabetes in Kuwait: a grounded theory study.","authors":"Zainab Meer, Ebaa Al-Ozairi, Genevie Fernandes, Sruthi Ranganathan, Jay Patel","doi":"10.1186/s12875-024-02577-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12875-024-02577-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Relative to country-specific epidemiological trends, Kuwait experiences a far greater burden of type 2 diabetes among its population. Information behaviours form a significant component of self-care management for patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, however this remains an understudied aspect of disease management. This study aims to investigate the information behaviours of patients with type 2 diabetes in Kuwait, and characterise the methods employed to manage their disease.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This qualitative study employed a grounded theory method. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty-seven participants over three phases of data collection in primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare settings across Kuwait. These were complemented by in-depth interviews to detail the information behaviours of these participants. The interviews were translated where appropriate, transcripts, and analysed through qualitative coding to synthesise the information behaviour patterns.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The findings demonstrated that living with type 2 diabetes involved a range of developmental and transformative stages, including changes to the patients' emotional state, reconstruction of their lifestyle and identity, and changes in the ways they find and use information. Living with the chronic condition was viewed as a dynamic and transitional process, where patients' information behaviours continually changed throughout the process across various identifiable stages. This dynamic pattern was reflected most prominently across the participants' behavioural needs, sources and information-seeking patterns.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Patients with type 2 diabetes continuously adapted their information behaviours to optimise the self-management of their condition across a relatively predictable pattern. Greater understanding of these behaviours across a wider population would improve the provision of clinical care for patients with diabetes.</p>","PeriodicalId":72428,"journal":{"name":"BMC primary care","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11373242/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142134650","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}
BMC primary carePub Date : 2024-09-04DOI: 10.1186/s12875-024-02570-7
Sarah Dennis, Wing Kwok, Jennifer Alison, Leanne Hassett, Gillian Nisbet, Kathryn Refshauge, Catherine Sherrington, Anna Williams
{"title":"How effective are allied health group interventions for the management of adults with long-term conditions? An umbrella review of systematic reviews and its applicability to the Australian primary health system.","authors":"Sarah Dennis, Wing Kwok, Jennifer Alison, Leanne Hassett, Gillian Nisbet, Kathryn Refshauge, Catherine Sherrington, Anna Williams","doi":"10.1186/s12875-024-02570-7","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12875-024-02570-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Group allied health interventions for people with chronic conditions may be a solution to increasing access to allied health in primary care. This umbrella review aimed to determine the effectiveness of allied health group interventions to improve health-related outcomes for adults with chronic conditions and the applicability of the findings to the Australian primary health care context.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>An umbrella review of systematic reviews conducted April-July 2022, searching eight databases. Systematic reviews were eligible if they included randomised controlled trials (RCT) or quasi-RCTs, community dwelling adults aged ≥ 18, at least one chronic condition, group intervention in scope for allied health professionals, and published in English after 2000. Studies were excluded if interventions were conducted in hospital or aged care facilities, out of scope for allied health, or unsupervised.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Two thousand three hundred eighty-five systematic reviews were identified: after screening and full text review 154 were included and data extracted from 90. The chronic conditions included: cancer (n = 15), cardiovascular disease (n = 6), mixed chronic conditions (n = 3), kidney disease (n = 1), low back pain (n = 12), respiratory disease (n = 8), diabetes (n = 14), heart failure (n = 9), risk of falls (n = 5), hypertension (n = 4, osteoarthritis (n = 6) and stroke (n = 8). Most group interventions included prescribed exercise and were in scope for physiotherapists and exercise physiologists. Overall, allied health group exercise programs for community dwelling adults improved health outcomes for most chronic conditions. Aggregated data from the systematic reviews suggests programs of 45-60 min per session, 2-3 times per week for 12 weeks. Lifestyle education and support for people with type-2 diabetes improved glycaemic control.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Prescribed group exercise delivered by allied health professionals, predominantly by exercise physiologists and physiotherapists, significantly improved health outcomes for community dwelling adults with a broad range of chronic conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":72428,"journal":{"name":"BMC primary care","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11373467/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142134649","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}
BMC primary carePub Date : 2024-09-04DOI: 10.1186/s12875-024-02576-1
Amy D Nguyen, Sarah J White, Tim Tse, John A Cartmill, Peter Roger, Sarah Hatem, Simon M Willcock
{"title":"Communication during telemedicine consultations in general practice: perspectives from general practitioners and their patients.","authors":"Amy D Nguyen, Sarah J White, Tim Tse, John A Cartmill, Peter Roger, Sarah Hatem, Simon M Willcock","doi":"10.1186/s12875-024-02576-1","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12875-024-02576-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Telemedicine allows delivery of healthcare to occur between parties that are not in the same location. As telemedicine users are not co-present, effective communication methods are crucial to the delivery and reception of information. The aim of this study was to explore perspectives of general practitioners (GPs) and patients on the interactional components of telemedicine consultations.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Semi-structured qualitative interviews were held with telemedicine users; 15 GPs and nine patients self-selected from a larger telemedicine study. Participants were asked about their preparation for telemedicine consultations, conducting telemedicine consultations and post-consultation activities. Deidentified transcripts from the interviews were analysed thematically.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>GPs and patients discussed factors they used to decide whether a consultation would be best conducted by telemedicine or in-person; the condition to be discussed, the existing doctor-patient relationship and whether physical examination was required. Participants also described how they prepared for their telemedicine consultations, gathering relevant documents, and reading previous notes. Participants described strategies they employed to optimise the telemedicine interaction; improving conversational flow and building rapport, as well as difficulties they experienced when trying to provide and receive care via telemedicine.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Patient factors including health literacy and familiarity with technology affect the transfer of information shared during telemedicine consultations and consideration of these factors when choosing patients for telemedicine is required. Many GPs and patients have innate communication skills to effectively deliver and receive care through telemedicine. However, they may not be aware of these subconscious techniques to use to optimise telemedicine consultations. Communication training could be delivered to increase conversational flow, build rapport, and establish safety netting.</p>","PeriodicalId":72428,"journal":{"name":"BMC primary care","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11373490/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142134637","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}