Time trends in general practitioners’ home visits for older patients: a retrospective cross-sectional study from Switzerland
WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT, AND WHAT THE STUDY ADDS: The number of home visits by general practitioners (GPs) has decreased in recent years, in contrast to the increasing number of frail and older patients in western countries. Current data on GP home visit numbers and rates are lacking for Swit...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SMW supporting association (Trägerverein Swiss Medical Weekly SMW)
2021-07-01
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| Series: | Swiss Medical Weekly |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.smw.ch/index.php/smw/article/view/3032 |
| _version_ | 1826995557019680768 |
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| author | Stefan Neuner-Jehle Sereina M. Graber Ellen Keizer Carola A. Huber Eva Blozik Thomas Rosemann Oliver Senn |
| author_facet | Stefan Neuner-Jehle Sereina M. Graber Ellen Keizer Carola A. Huber Eva Blozik Thomas Rosemann Oliver Senn |
| author_sort | Stefan Neuner-Jehle |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT, AND WHAT THE STUDY ADDS: The number of home visits by general practitioners (GPs) has decreased in recent years, in contrast to the increasing number of frail and older patients in western countries. Current data on GP home visit numbers and rates are lacking for Switzerland. Our study provides new data on GP home visit numbers and rates, and their associations with patient characteristics.
AIM
Our study aimed at investigating the time trend of GP home visits to older patients from 2014 to 2018 in Switzerland, and associations between GP home visits and patient characteristics including healthcare utilisation and living situation.
METHODS
Retrospective cross-sectional study of insurance claims data from 2014 to 2018 among patients aged ≥65 years (Nextrapolated = 2,095,102; Nraw = 339,301). We compared patient characteristics between patients with and without GP home visits using descriptive statistics. We performed logistic regression analyses to detect associations between patient characteristics and GP home visits, including subgroups of patients aged ≥80 and patients living in a nursing home. Regression models were adjusted for age and sex.
RESULTS
The yearly GP home visit rate declined from 10.7% to 9.3% from 2014 to 2018 (p <0.0001). Among patients aged ≥80, the rate declined from 26.1% to 23.1% (p <0.0001), and among patients living in a nursing home from 68.7% to 65.8% (p <0.0001). Regression analyses revealed increased health care utilisation and a higher burden of morbidity and mortality in patients receiving GP home visits.
CONCLUSION
There is an ongoing decline of GP home visits over the past years, with a potentially negative impact on the quality of care for older and frail patients.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T04:26:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-451a175dfb1f49dc9ad1ad242575aa9e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-3997 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-18T09:35:09Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | SMW supporting association (Trägerverein Swiss Medical Weekly SMW) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Swiss Medical Weekly |
| spelling | doaj.art-451a175dfb1f49dc9ad1ad242575aa9e2024-11-02T17:49:22ZengSMW supporting association (Trägerverein Swiss Medical Weekly SMW)Swiss Medical Weekly1424-39972021-07-01151272810.4414/smw.2021.20539Time trends in general practitioners’ home visits for older patients: a retrospective cross-sectional study from SwitzerlandStefan Neuner-Jehle0Sereina M. Graber1Ellen Keizer2Carola A. Huber3Eva Blozik4Thomas Rosemann5Oliver Senn6Institute of Primary Care, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartment Health Sciences, Helsana Insurance Company, Zurich, SwitzerlandInstitute of Primary Care, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, SwitzerlandInstitute of Primary Care, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Department Health Sciences, Helsana Insurance Company, Zurich, SwitzerlandInstitute of Primary Care, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Department Health Sciences, Helsana Insurance Company, Zurich, SwitzerlandInstitute of Primary Care, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, SwitzerlandInstitute of Primary Care, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT, AND WHAT THE STUDY ADDS: The number of home visits by general practitioners (GPs) has decreased in recent years, in contrast to the increasing number of frail and older patients in western countries. Current data on GP home visit numbers and rates are lacking for Switzerland. Our study provides new data on GP home visit numbers and rates, and their associations with patient characteristics. AIM Our study aimed at investigating the time trend of GP home visits to older patients from 2014 to 2018 in Switzerland, and associations between GP home visits and patient characteristics including healthcare utilisation and living situation. METHODS Retrospective cross-sectional study of insurance claims data from 2014 to 2018 among patients aged ≥65 years (Nextrapolated = 2,095,102; Nraw = 339,301). We compared patient characteristics between patients with and without GP home visits using descriptive statistics. We performed logistic regression analyses to detect associations between patient characteristics and GP home visits, including subgroups of patients aged ≥80 and patients living in a nursing home. Regression models were adjusted for age and sex. RESULTS The yearly GP home visit rate declined from 10.7% to 9.3% from 2014 to 2018 (p <0.0001). Among patients aged ≥80, the rate declined from 26.1% to 23.1% (p <0.0001), and among patients living in a nursing home from 68.7% to 65.8% (p <0.0001). Regression analyses revealed increased health care utilisation and a higher burden of morbidity and mortality in patients receiving GP home visits. CONCLUSION There is an ongoing decline of GP home visits over the past years, with a potentially negative impact on the quality of care for older and frail patients. https://www.smw.ch/index.php/smw/article/view/3032General Practitionerhome visitshome-based caremultimorbidityhigh agefrailty |
| spellingShingle | Stefan Neuner-Jehle Sereina M. Graber Ellen Keizer Carola A. Huber Eva Blozik Thomas Rosemann Oliver Senn Time trends in general practitioners’ home visits for older patients: a retrospective cross-sectional study from Switzerland Swiss Medical Weekly General Practitioner home visits home-based care multimorbidity high age frailty |
| title | Time trends in general practitioners’ home visits for older patients: a retrospective cross-sectional study from Switzerland |
| title_full | Time trends in general practitioners’ home visits for older patients: a retrospective cross-sectional study from Switzerland |
| title_fullStr | Time trends in general practitioners’ home visits for older patients: a retrospective cross-sectional study from Switzerland |
| title_full_unstemmed | Time trends in general practitioners’ home visits for older patients: a retrospective cross-sectional study from Switzerland |
| title_short | Time trends in general practitioners’ home visits for older patients: a retrospective cross-sectional study from Switzerland |
| title_sort | time trends in general practitioners home visits for older patients a retrospective cross sectional study from switzerland |
| topic | General Practitioner home visits home-based care multimorbidity high age frailty |
| url | https://www.smw.ch/index.php/smw/article/view/3032 |
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