Early intervention for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by practice nurse and GP teams: a cluster randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: Early detection and intervention for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) could potentially slow disease progress and minimize harm. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of early intervention by a practice nurse-GP team on quality of life (QoL) and process of care in patients with newly diagnosed COPD, compared with usual care. Nurses and GPs in intervention practices were educated to develop and implement disease management plans for COPD. METHODS: A 12-month, multicentre, pragmatic randomized controlled trial with blinded outcome assessment was conducted. Participants were current and former smokers aged 40 to 85 years newly identified as having COPD on post-bronchodilator spirometry. The primary outcome was health-related QoL, assessed with the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). Secondary outcome measures were other QoL measures, lung function, disease knowledge, smoking and immunization status, inhaler technique and health service use. RESULTS: Of the 10 234 patients from 36 practices in Sydney invited to a case-finding appointment, 1641 (16%) attended and 287 (18%) were diagnosed with COPD. Nineteen practices (144 patients) were randomized to the intervention group and 17 practices (110 patients) to the control group. Only 15.3% (n = 22) patients in the intervention group saw the nurse for COPD care following case finding. There was no between-group difference in SGRQ score at follow-up (mean difference -0.21; P = 0.86). Influenza vaccination was higher in the intervention group (OR 2.31: P = 0.035), but there were no other significant between-group differences in outcomes. CONCLUSION: Intervention uptake was low and had no additional beneficial effect, over usual care, on participants' health-related QoL.

Multidisciplinary care: experience of patients with complex needs.

The rapidly increasing prevalence of diabetes with its high morbidity and mortality raises the need for an integrated multidisciplinary service from health care providers across health sectors. The aim of this study was to explore the diabetic patients' experience of multidisciplinary care, in particular their perceptions, perceived barriers and facilitators. Thirteen patients with type-2 diabetes admitted to the emergency department of a local hospital in NSW were interviewed and completed a demographic questionnaire. Results showed that patients found it inconvenient to be referred to many health professionals because of multiple physical and psychosocial barriers. Separate sets of instructions from different health professionals were overwhelming, confusing and conflicting. Lack of a dedicated coordinator of care, follow up and support for self-management from health professionals were factors that contributed to patients' challenges in being actively involved in their care. The presence of multiple co-morbidities made it more difficult for patients to juggle priorities and 'commitments' to many health professionals. In addition, complex socioeconomic and cultural issues, such as financial difficulties, lack of transport and language barriers, intensified the challenge for these patients to navigate the health system independently. Few patients felt that having many health professionals involved in their care improved their diabetes control. Communication among the multidisciplinary care team was fragmented and had a negative effect on the coordination of care. The patients' perspective is important to identify the problems they experience and to formulate strategies for improving multidisciplinary care for patients with diabetes.

Choosing general practice as a career - the influences of education and training.

BACKGROUND: In Australia, most medical students graduate without a firm career choice, with this decision being made during their early postgraduate years. Strategies addressing the current lack of meaningful exposure to general practice during these formative prevocational years are likely to be the most effective in increasing the proportion and number of entrants to general practice. OBJECTIVE: This review summarises the influences of medical student selection criteria, curriculum, geographical location, timing and duration of general practice exposure and experience, prevocational experience, and vocational training, on an eventual choice of general practice as a career. DISCUSSION: These are important influences on the complex process of career choice. Much research has focused on isolated interventions at one point along the pipeline. Varied and conflicting conclusions emerge from individual studies. In complex systems it is hard to understand the influence of an isolated intervention without looking at the system as a whole.

Choosing general practice - a review of career choice determinants.

This review takes a narrative synthesis approach - a systematic approach to interpreting complex evidence - to a broad literature review of the complex issue of medical career decision making. Addressing the Australian general practice workforce crisis requires an understanding of career choice motivators.

Feasibility and efficacy of COPD case finding by practice nurses.

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of disability, hospital admission and premature mortality, but is often undiagnosed. This study assessed the effectiveness, feasibility and acceptability of COPD case finding by practice nurses performing spirometry on patients identified as being at risk of developing COPD. METHODS: Practice nurses were trained in spirometry. From four general practices, 1010 patients were identified who were aged 40-80 years and current or ex-smokers. Four hundred were randomised to receive a written invitation to attend a case finding appointment with the practice nurse, including spirometry. RESULTS: Seventy-nine patients attended, 16 (20.3% of attendees) had COPD diagnosed on spirometry; practice nurses correctly identified 10 of the 16, but also incorrectly identified a further six patients as having COPD. One patient in the usual care group was diagnosed with COPD, but this was not confirmed on spirometry. DISCUSSION: This study confirmed that COPD is underdiagnosed, with 20% of those at risk and attending for screening having COPD. The search strategy successfully identified patients at risk. Further training in spirometry would be required for practice nurses to increase the accuracy of the diagnoses. The opportunity cost would require consideration. The acceptability to patients is also an issue, this may be related to the recruitment method or the intervention. This study also does not answer whether earlier diagnosis in these patients leads to any change in outcomes.

Healthcare workers and immunity to infectious diseases.

OBJECTIVE: In 2002, New South Wales (NSW) Health introduced an updated policy for occupational screening and vaccination against infectious diseases. This study describes healthcare worker (HCW) immunity to hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) and varicella based on serological screening, following introduction of this policy. METHODS: HCW screening serology performed at two healthcare facilities in south western Sydney (Bankstown and Fairfield) was extracted for the period September 2003 to September 2005. Immunity to hepatitis B, MMR and varicella was quantitated and cross-tabulated against age, sex and staff risk category. RESULTS: A total of 1,320 HCWs were screened. Almost two thirds were immune to hepatitis B while immunity to MMR and varicella ranged from 88% to 94%. Age stratification showed lower levels of measles immunity in those born after 1965. CONCLUSIONS: Despite availability of vaccination for over two decades, a significant proportion of HCWs at these two facilities were non-immune to hepatitis B. This is of concern for those non-immune staff involved in direct clinical care, who are at risk of blood and body fluid exposures. The small group of HCWs non-immune to MMR and varicella pose a risk to themselves and others in the event of an outbreak. IMPLICATIONS: There is a need for improved implementation of the occupational screening and vaccination policy, including better education of HCWs about the risks of non-immunity to vaccine preventable diseases. The revised 2007 NSW Health policy may assist this process and will need evaluation to determine whether HCW immunity improves in the coming years.

Caring for patients with opioid dependence.

Australian general practitioners have a pivotal role in helping their patients with problems of alcohol and tobacco dependence, but have been less likely than their peers in the United Kingdom to be involved in the management of opioid dependence. This is despite the fact that most GPs are seeing opioid dependent patients whether they know it or not, and that GPs are ideally placed to manage this problem given the other advantages of the general practice context--continuity, accessibility, and whole patient care, including the ability to address other health issues.

Health reform: is routinely collected electronic information fit for purpose?

OBJECTIVE: Little has been reported about the completeness and accuracy of data in existing Australian clinical information systems. We examined the accuracy of the diagnoses of some chronic diseases in an ED information system (EDIS), a module of the NSW Health electronic medical record (EMR), and the consistency of the reports generated by the EMR. METHODS: A list of ED attendees and those admitted was generated from the EDIS, using specific (e.g. angina) and possible clinical terms (e.g. chest pain) for the selected chronic diseases. This EDIS list was validated with an audit of discharge summaries, and compared with a list generated, using similar specific and possible Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terms (SNOMED-CT), from the underlying EMR database. RESULTS: Of the 33,115 ED attendees, 2559 had diabetes mellitus (DM), cardiovascular disease or asthma/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; of these 2559, 876 were admitted. Discharge summaries were missing for 12-15% of patients. Only three-quarters or fewer of the diagnoses were confirmed by the discharge summary audit, best for DM and worst for cardiovascular disease. Proportion of agreement between the lists generated from the EDIS and EMR was best for DM and worst for asthma/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Possible reasons for this discrepancy are technical, such as use of different extraction terms or system inconsistency; or clinical, such as data entry, decision-making, professional behaviour and organizational performance. CONCLUSIONS: Variations in information quality and consistency of the EDIS/EMR raise concerns about the 'fitness for purpose' of the information for care and planning, information sharing, research and quality assurance.

A pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial of early intervention for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by practice nurse-general practitioner teams: Study Protocol.

BACKGROUND: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a leading cause of disability, hospitalization, and premature mortality. General practice is well placed to diagnose and manage COPD, but there is a significant gap between evidence and current practice, with a low level of awareness and implementation of clinical practice guidelines. Under-diagnosis of COPD is a world-wide problem, limiting the benefit that could potentially be achieved through early intervention strategies such as smoking cessation, dietary advice, and exercise. General practice is moving towards more structured chronic disease management, and the increasing involvement of practice nurses in delivering chronic care. DESIGN: A pragmatic cluster randomised trial will test the hypothesis that intervention by a practice nurse-general practitioner (GP) team leads to improved health-related quality of life and greater adherence with clinical practice guidelines for patients with newly-diagnosed COPD, compared with usual care. Forty general practices in greater metropolitan Sydney Australia will be recruited to identify patients at risk of COPD and invite them to attend a case finding appointment. Practices will be randomised to deliver either practice nurse-GP partnership care, or usual care, to patients newly-diagnosed with COPD.The active intervention will involve the practice nurse and GP working in partnership with the patient in developing and implementing a care plan involving (as appropriate), smoking cessation, immunisation, pulmonary rehabilitation, medication review, assessment and correction of inhaler technique, nutritional advice, management of psycho-social issues, patient education, and management of co-morbidities.The primary outcome measure is health-related quality of life, assessed with the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire 12 months after diagnosis. Secondary outcome measures include validated disease-specific and general health related quality of life measures, smoking and immunisation status, medications, inhaler technique, and lung function. Outcomes will be assessed by project officers blinded to patients' randomization groups. DISCUSSION: This study will use proven case-finding methods to identify patients with undiagnosed COPD in general practice, where improved care has the potential for substantial benefit in health and healthcare utilization. The study provides the capacity to trial a new model of team-based assessment and management of newly diagnosed COPD in Australian primary care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ACTRN12610000592044\