Concept: Primary care
201
Homeopathic medical practice for anxiety and depression in primary care: the EPI3 cohort study
- OPEN
- BMC complementary and alternative medicine
- Published over 4 years ago
- Discuss
The purpose of the study was to compare utilization of conventional psychotropic drugs among patients seeking care for anxiety and depression disorders (ADDs) from general practitioners (GPs) who strictly prescribe conventional medicines (GP-CM), regularly prescribe homeopathy in a mixed practice (GP-Mx), or are certified homeopathic GPs (GP-Ho).
174
To determine the effectiveness of collaborative care in reducing depression in primary care patients with diabetes or heart disease using practice nurses as case managers.
171
Scoping the impact of the national child measurement programme feedback on the child obesity pathway: study protocol.
- OPEN
- BMC public health
- Published over 8 years ago
- Discuss
BACKGROUND: The National Child Measurement Programme was established to measure the height and weight of children at primary school in England and provides parents with feedback about their child’s weight status. In this study we will evaluate the impact of the National Child Measurement Programme feedback on parental risk perceptions of overweight, lifestyle behaviour and health service use. METHODS: The study will be a prospective cohort study of parents of children enrolled in the National Child Measurement Programme and key service providers from 5 primary care trusts (administrative bodies responsible for providing primary and secondary care services). We will conduct baseline questionnaires, followed by provision of weight feedback and 3 follow up questionnaires over the course of a year. Questionnaires will measure change in parental risk perception of overweight, health behaviours and health service use. Qualitative interviews will be used to identify barriers and facilitators to change. This study will produce preliminary data on National Health Service costs associated with weight feedback and determine which feedback approach (letter and letter plus telephone) is more effective. DISCUSSION: This study will provide the first large scale evaluation of the National Child Measurement Programme feedback. Findings from this evaluation will inform future planning of the National Child Measurement Programme.
166
Using the DOSE index to predict changes in health status of patients with COPD: a prospective cohort study
- OPEN
- Primary care respiratory journal : journal of the General Practice Airways Group
- Published almost 8 years ago
- Discuss
BACKGROUND: The severity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) should not be based on the level of airflow limitation alone. A multicomponent index such as the DOSE index (dyspnoea score (D), level of airflow obstruction (O), current smoking status (S), and exacerbations (E)) has the potential to predict important future outcomes in patients with COPD more effectively than the forced expiratory volume in one second. Health status deterioration should be prevented in COPD patients. AIMS: To investigate whether the DOSE index can predict which patients are at risk of a clinically relevant change in health status. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was performed using data from primary and secondary care. The DOSE score was determined at baseline and the 2-year change in the Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ) score was calculated. Linear regression analysis was performed for the effect of a high DOSE score (≥4) on the change in CCQ score. RESULTS: The study population consisted of 209 patients (112 patients from primary care). Overall, a high DOSE score was a significant predictor of a change in CCQ score after 2 years (0.41, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.70), particularly in primary care patients. CONCLUSIONS: A DOSE score of ≥4 has the ability to identify COPD patients with a greater risk of future worsening in health status.
152
Primary care (PC) patients have difficulties in committing to and incorporating primary prevention and health promotion (PP&HP) activities into their long-term care. We aimed to re-interpret, for the first time, qualitative findings regarding factors affecting PC patients' acceptance of PP&HP activities.
138
Tobacco addiction in the psychiatric population and in the general population
- OPEN
- Revista latino-americana de enfermagem
- Published about 3 years ago
- Discuss
To estimate the degree of tobacco addiction and identify independently associated factors by comparing the psychiatric population of secondary and tertiary care with the general population of the primary healthcare network.
132
Acupuncture and Counselling for Depression in Primary Care: A Randomised Controlled Trial
- OPEN
- PLoS medicine
- Published over 7 years ago
- Discuss
Depression is a significant cause of morbidity. Many patients have communicated an interest in non-pharmacological therapies to their general practitioners. Systematic reviews of acupuncture and counselling for depression in primary care have identified limited evidence. The aim of this study was to evaluate acupuncture versus usual care and counselling versus usual care for patients who continue to experience depression in primary care.
94
Evaluation of telephone first approach to demand management in English general practice: observational study
- OPEN
- BMJ (Clinical research ed.)
- Published over 3 years ago
- Discuss
Objective To evaluate a “telephone first” approach, in which all patients wanting to see a general practitioner (GP) are asked to speak to a GP on the phone before being given an appointment for a face to face consultation.Design Time series and cross sectional analysis of routine healthcare data, data from national surveys, and primary survey data.Participants 147 general practices adopting the telephone first approach compared with a 10% random sample of other practices in England.Intervention Management support for workload planning and introduction of the telephone first approach provided by two commercial companies.Main outcome measures Number of consultations, total time consulting (59 telephone first practices, no controls). Patient experience (GP Patient Survey, telephone first practices plus controls). Use and costs of secondary care (hospital episode statistics, telephone first practices plus controls). The main analysis was intention to treat, with sensitivity analyses restricted to practices thought to be closely following the companies' protocols.Results After the introduction of the telephone first approach, face to face consultations decreased considerably (adjusted change within practices -38%, 95% confidence interval -45% to -29%; P<0.001). An average practice experienced a 12-fold increase in telephone consultations (1204%, 633% to 2290%; P<0.001). The average duration of both telephone and face to face consultations decreased, but there was an overall increase of 8% in the mean time spent consulting by GPs, albeit with large uncertainty on this estimate (95% confidence interval -1% to 17%; P=0.088). These average workload figures mask wide variation between practices, with some practices experiencing a substantial reduction in workload and others a large increase. Compared with other English practices in the national GP Patient Survey, in practices using the telephone first approach there was a large (20.0 percentage points, 95% confidence interval 18.2 to 21.9; P<0.001) improvement in length of time to be seen. In contrast, other scores on the GP Patient Survey were slightly more negative. Introduction of the telephone first approach was followed by a small (2.0%) increase in hospital admissions (95% confidence interval 1% to 3%; P=0.006), no initial change in emergency department attendance, but a small (2% per year) decrease in the subsequent rate of rise of emergency department attendance (1% to 3%; P=0.005). There was a small net increase in secondary care costs.Conclusions The telephone first approach shows that many problems in general practice can be dealt with over the phone. The approach does not suit all patients or practices and is not a panacea for meeting demand. There was no evidence to support claims that the approach would, on average, save costs or reduce use of secondary care.
88
Genetic and Environmental Risk for Chronic Pain and the Contribution of Risk Variants for Major Depressive Disorder: A Family-Based Mixed-Model Analysis
- OPEN
- PLoS medicine
- Published over 4 years ago
- Discuss
Chronic pain is highly prevalent and a significant source of disability, yet its genetic and environmental risk factors are poorly understood. Its relationship with major depressive disorder (MDD) is of particular importance. We sought to test the contribution of genetic factors and shared and unique environment to risk of chronic pain and its correlation with MDD in Generation Scotland: Scottish Family Health Study (GS:SFHS). We then sought to replicate any significant findings in the United Kingdom Biobank study.
60
Depression Is Associated with an Increased Risk of Psoriatic Arthritis among Patients with Psoriasis: A Population-Based Study
- OPEN
- The Journal of investigative dermatology
- Published almost 4 years ago
- Discuss
The factors that contribute to the development of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) among patients with psoriasis are not well known; however, systemic inflammation is believed to be important. On the basis of recent laboratory work demonstrating that major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with increased systemic inflammation, we hypothesized that patients with psoriasis who develop MDD are at increased risk of subsequently developing PsA. We utilized The Health Improvement Network, a primary care medical records database, to identify 73,447 individuals with psoriasis. Patients were followed up to 25 years until the development of the primary outcome of PsA or the censor date. The exposure of interest was the development of MDD. Cox proportional-hazards models showed that patients with psoriasis who developed MDD were at significantly increased risk of subsequently developing PsA compared with patients who did not develop MDD, even after accounting for numerous covariates (hazard ratio 1.37, 95% confidence interval 1.05-1.80, P = 0.021). This result was maintained through numerous sensitivity analyses. These data support the hypothesis that MDD increases the risk of developing PsA among patients with psoriasis, suggesting a need for heightened prevention and management of MDD in patients with psoriasis.