scholarly journals Portuguese Family Physicians’ Awareness of Diagnostic and Laboratory Test Costs: A Cross-Sectional Study

PLoS ONE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. e0137025 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luísa Sá ◽  
Cristina Costa-Santos ◽  
Andreia Teixeira ◽  
Luciana Couto ◽  
Altamiro Costa-Pereira ◽  
...  
BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. e026647
Author(s):  
Magda Bucholc ◽  
Maurice O’Kane ◽  
Ciaran Mullan ◽  
Siobhan Ashe ◽  
Liam Maguire

ObjectivesTo describe the laboratory test ordering patterns by general practitioners (GPs) in Northern Ireland Western Health and Social Care Trust (WHSCT) and explore demographic and socioeconomic associations with test requesting.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingWHSCT, Northern Ireland.Participants55 WHSCT primary care medical practices that remained open throughout the study period 1 April 2011–31 March 2016.OutcomesTo identify the temporal patterns of laboratory test ordering behaviour for eight commonly requested clinical biochemistry tests/test groups in WHSCT. To analyse the extent of variations in laboratory test requests by GPs and to explore whether these variations can be accounted for by clinical outcomes or geographical, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.ResultsThe median number of adjusted test request rates over 5 consecutive years of the study period decreased by 45.7% for urine albumin/creatinine ratio (p<0.000001) and 19.4% for lipid profiles (p<0.000001) while a 60.6%, 36.6% and 29.5% increase was observed for HbA1c(p<0.000001), immunoglobulins (p=0.000007) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) (p=0.0003), respectively. The between-practice variation in test ordering rates increased by 272% for immunoglobulins (p=0.008) and 500% for HbA1c(p=0.0001). No statistically significant relationship between ordering activity and either demographic (age and gender) and socioeconomic factors (deprivation) or Quality and Outcome Framework scores was observed. We found the rural–urban differences in between-practice variability in ordering rates for lipid profiles, thyroid profiles, PSA and immunoglobulins to be statistically significant at the Bonferroni-adjusted significance level p<0.01.ConclusionsWe explored potential factors of the interpractice variability in the use of laboratory tests and found that differences in requesting activity appear unrelated to either demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of GP practices or clinical outcome indicators.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Danijel Nejašmić ◽  
Davorka Vrdoljak ◽  
Valerija Bralić Lang ◽  
Josip Anđelo Borovac ◽  
Ana Marušić

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 3282 ◽  
Author(s):  
AmnahAli Abdulqader Elagi ◽  
BasemAmer Jaber ◽  
AlmontherHussain Ahmed Wassly ◽  
RubaMohammed Sallam Ahmed ◽  
FatimahAli Ahmed Bosily

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 171-178
Author(s):  
Selçuk Akturan ◽  
Bilge Tuncel

Introduction: Frailty syndrome, which affects the quality of life negatively in patients of 65 years old and over, can be observed from physical inactivity to immobility, and can affect cognitive disorders. General symptoms of frailty are; slowing walking speed, involuntary weight loss, decreased appetite, decreased body mass index (BMI), decreased muscle strength, feeling insufficient while doing physical activity, weakness, fatigue, impaired cognitive functions, and memory loss. Fragility is reversible, but if it is not noticed earlier it can progress to immobility or death. Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) is important in detecting a frail elderly. The aim of the study is to determine the knowledge level of family physicians in Erzincan. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. It is aimed to reach at least 80% of family physicians (FPs) employed actively in 73 primary care units in Erzincan. The researchers applied questionnaire face-to-face to the participants. Erzincan Clinical Research Ethics Committee approval was received for the study. SPSS 23 statistics program was used for data analysis. Results: The frailty questionnaire was applied to 58 FPs. Only 12.1% of FPs correctly answered the question of which word first comes to mind for ‘frailty’. The 74.1% (n: 43) of participants did not consider themselves sufficient for CGA, and 70.7% (n: 41) of participants wanted training on CGA. The answer for question if they evaluate the patients for frailty in homecare visits was yes in 38.2%. Conclusion: It can be said that the ‘frailty’ knowledge level of FPs should be increased in Erzincan. In light of the data obtained, it may be suggested to organize “frailty” and CGA trainings for family physicians. Frailty and CGA should be included in undergraduate medical education and continuous trainings of FPs.


BMJ Open ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. e005162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Martins ◽  
Luís Filipe Azevedo ◽  
Cristina Santos ◽  
Luísa Sá ◽  
Paulo Santos ◽  
...  

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