Does continuity of care with a family physician reduce hospitalizations among older adults?
J Health Serv Res Policy
; 11(4): 196-201, 2006 Oct.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-17018192
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To examine the relation between continuity of primary care and hospitalizations.METHODS:
Survey data from a representative sample of older adults aged 67 or over living in the province of Manitoba (n = 1863) were linked to administrative data, which provide complete records of physician visits and hospitalizations. A visit-based measure of continuity of care was derived using a majority-of-care definition, whereby individuals who made 75% of all their visits to family physicians (FPs) to the same FP were classified as having high continuity of care, and those with less than 75% of their visits to the same FP as having low continuity of care. Whether individuals were hospitalized (for either ambulatory care-sensitive conditions or all conditions) was also determined from administrative records.RESULTS:
High continuity of care was associated with reduced odds of ambulatory care-sensitive hospitalizations (adjusted odds ratio = 0.67, confidence interval 0.51-0.90) controlling for demographic and self-reported, health-related measures. It was not related to hospitalizations for all conditions, however.CONCLUSIONS:
The study highlights the importance of continuity of primary care in reducing potentially avoidable hospitalizations.
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Médicos de Família
/
Continuidade da Assistência ao Paciente
/
Hospitalização
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2006
Tipo de documento:
Article