A named General Practitioner (GP) is associated with an increase of hospital days in a single predictor analysis: a follow-up of 15 years

BMC Health Services Research

Research

Sakari Suominen¹  Kari J. Mattila²  Markku Sumanen²  Emmi Lautamatti³  Lauri Sillanmäki⁴ 

[1] Department of Public Health, University of Turku, Turku, Finland;The Wellbeing Services County of Southwest Finland, Research Centre, Turku, Finland;School of Health Sciences, University of Skövde, Skövde, Sweden;Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland;Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland;The Wellbeing Services County of Pirkanmaa, Tampere, Finland;The Wellbeing Services County of Southwest Finland, Research Centre, Turku, Finland;University of Turku, Turku, Finland;Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland;

关键词: Continuity of Care;    Named GP;    Hospital days;    Health care services;    Finnish healthcare;    Register-based;    Logistic regression analysis;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12913-023-10184-5

 received in 2022-12-16, accepted in 2023-10-19,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundContinuity of care constitutes the basis of primary health care services and is associated with decreased hospitalization. In Finland, accessibility to primary care and increased use of hospital services are recognized challenges for the health care system.ObjectivesThe aim of the study was to determine whether having a named GP is associated with hospital service use.MethodsThe data are part of the Health and Social Support study (HeSSup) based on a random Finnish working-age population sample. The cohort of the study comprised participants of postal surveys in 1998 (n = 25,898) who returned follow-up questionnaires both in 2003 and 2012 (n = 11,924). Background characteristics were inquired in the questionnaires, and hospitalization was derived from national registries (Hilmo-register).ResultsA named GP was reported both in 2003 and 2012 only by 34.3% of the participants. The association between hospital days and a named GP was linearly rising and statistically significant in a single predictor model. The strongest associations with hospital use were with health-related factors, and the association with a named GP was no longer significant in multinomial analysis.ConclusionA named GP is associated with an increased use of hospital days, but in a multinomial analysis the association disappeared. Health related factors showed the strongest association with hospital days. From the perspective of the on-going Finnish health and social services reform, continuity of care should be emphasized.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

【 图 表 】

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