Recruitment through general practitioners (GPs) is a key challenge in primary care trials. Understanding how individual, practice, and regional characteristics affect recruitment and perceived workload could help optimize participation strategies. This study aims to identify barriers and facilitators to patient recruitment within the AgeWell.de dementia prevention trial. We...
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain a major global health concern, contributing significantly to morbidity and mortality. The use of point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) in primary care has grown in popularity, offering a promising approach for early atherosclerosis detection. The objective was to investigate the sensitivity and specificity of family medicine physicians in...
Strengthening multisectoral collaboration is essential for NCD prevention and control. In Ghana, the healthcare system often experiences inefficiencies due to fragmented care pathways and limited patient engagement. In this study, we assessed the collaboration and level of satisfaction on collaboration between healthcare professionals (HCPs) in hospital settings and Community...
Job dissatisfaction and job-related stress among primary care physicians (PCPs) are recognised as major issues in high-income countries. We analysed the Commonwealth Fund’s 2019 International Health Policy Survey of PCPs (n = 13,200). Job dissatisfaction was examined with regard to its potential determinants, including job-related stress, satisfaction with income, time spent with...
Cardiovascular diseases, a leading cause of death globally and in Hong Kong, lead to disability, mood changes, and increased healthcare burden. Lifestyle modifications can prevent these diseases. Health coaching, a client-centered approach, aids in behavior change. Despite its promise, cultural nuances in Hong Kong, like traditional diets and collectivist values, may influence...
Team-based, interprofessional primary care models are arguably well positioned to care for patients with polypharmacy as they often have a pharmacist or allied health professionals to support patients with medication management. However, little is known about how teams work together to manage medications. This study aimed to explore how a team-based primary care organization...
Vertigo is a common symptom that strongly impacts patients’ quality of life. More than 80% of patients experiencing vertigo are primarily treated by their general practitioner (GP). The GP’s'diagnostic toolkit
Asthma brings a huge burden to children and their families. The aim of this study is to investigate the level of understanding of asthma among family caregivers, the burden they facing in caring for children with asthma, and their needs of pharmaceutical care. A questionnaire informed by recent literature was distributed to family caregivers of children (< 18 years old) diagnosed...
Choosing Wisely is an international initiative to curb medical overuse. The Norwegian College of General Practice has published recommendations to avoid commonly used services for safer healthcare. This study investigated Norwegian GPs’ perceptions of Choosing Wisely. Cross-sectional online survey of Norwegian GPs in 2021. We report GPs’ perceptions of Choosing Wisely...
Primary care is the base in many health care systems, and to identify the most registered diagnoses in primary care is a way to identify the overall health care use and needs in society. We estimated the rates of the 30 most common diagnoses in primary health care and their male to female ratio. This was a study including inhabitants 18 years and older out of all 2.3 million...
Understanding prescribing patterns is essential for developing targeted interventions to promote rational antimicrobial use. This study evaluated antimicrobial prescribing patterns among pediatric outpatients at primary healthcare centers (PHCs) in Bujumbura Mairie, republic of Burundi. We conducted a cross-sectional study at 20 PHCs in Bujumbura Mairie, Republic of Burundi, to...
In this article we present 27 years of graduate retention outcomes for a nine-university consortium education program for Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioners (NPs) in Ontario, Canada. We assessed graduate retention in terms of whether graduates are or were practicing: 1) as an NP in Ontario; and 2) as an NP in the geographic region of Ontario where they graduated. It also...
Exercise is frequently prescribed yet our understanding of how to best optimize exercise prescription is limited, and we do not know which patient outcomes are most important. In this editorial, we outline challenges, innovations and future directions, and invite contributions to BMC Primary Care’s “Exercise Prescription and Patient Outcomes” Collection.
Data collection in the pediatric primary care settings, conducted by general practitioners and pediatricians, is inherently challenging. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the urgent need for real-time, localized information on the pandemic’s impact on children motivated a network of pediatric practices in the canton of Zurich to undertake...
Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) is a globally prevalent, health damaging problem. In high income countries, migrant /refugee populations from low/middle income countries often consist of young families. DVA is more prevalent, and barriers to disclosure greater among migrant/refugee than native-born families. Consequently, general practice (GP) patient populations are...
Social prescribing (SP) seeks to support patients’ wider needs by connecting them to non-medical community resources. Link workers (LWs) facilitate SP’s delivery across the National Health Service (NHS) in England. As a concept, SP may be perceived in different ways by various stakeholders. This study set out to explore how SP is understood among healthcare professionals (HCPs...
The increasing emergence of bacteria resistant to antibiotic treatments has become a global public health concern and one of the leading causes of death worldwide. This growing threat demands urgent and coordinated action from health systems across the globe. A key driver of antimicrobial resistance is the inappropriate and excessive use of antibiotics, which accelerates the...
Risk stratification is a population health management approach that classifies patients according to their health risks and projected care needs. This strategy is especially valuable in primary care, where timely interventions for high-risk individuals can lead to better health outcomes, reduced healthcare expenditures, and a more sustainable healthcare system. The goal of this...
The National Essential Public Health Service Program was launched in 2009 to improve hypertension control of Chinese adults in primary care settings. Current research evidence regarding effectiveness of the National Essential Public Health Service Program on hypertension control during the COVID-19 epidemic was limited. To fulfil the research gap, this study aimed to evaluate...
In several Western nations, cancers of the colon and rectum have been steadily increasing in persons younger than age 50. Although the age at which to begin colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in the U.S. was lowered to 45 years in 2018, uptake of screening in persons aged 45–49 has been slow. Based on risk factors for CRC prior to age 50 and population-based CRC prevalence data...
Resource-limited countries face challenges of integrating rehabilitation services into primary healthcare. This is always hindered by many factors such as poor healthcare policy, a shortage of healthcare providers, limited knowledge among healthcare providers, and resource constraints. This study aimed to understand rehabilitation needs in primary care and explore current...
Structured, comprehensive provision of primary care services has been shown to provide better outcomes in chronic disease management. In 2004, Germany introduced a programme of general practitioner (GP)-centred healthcare to strengthen the primary care sector. Crises such as pandemics, world conflict and climate events can result in significant challenges for the provision of...
Effective self-management (SM) is essential for improving health and preventing severe complications in patients with lifestyle-related chronic conditions, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and CHD. Thus, enhancing patients’ SM through self-management support has become an integral part of chronic care programs worldwide. However, information on the current focus on SM in...
Stigma is a key barrier to compassionate primary health care delivery and people-centered care (PCC), but is understudied among primary care providers (PCPs). Hepatitis B and C have a significant burden of disease in the Philippines, where there is limited awareness of and access to screening and treatment. Patient-reported stigma has been identified as a significant barrier to...
Restrictions to routine preventative primary care well child visits (WCV) during COVID-19 may have affected a variety of outcomes for young children including growth, development, and the identification and management of developmental delays. To better understand the effect of the pandemic on these outcomes, we conducted a scoping review of studies published between March 2020...