Scandinavian journal of primary health care
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Scand J Prim Health Care · Sep 2024
Controlled Clinical TrialCancer patients have a reduced likelihood of dying in hospital with advance care planning in primary health care and a summarizing palliative plan: a prospective controlled non-randomized intervention trial.
Advance care planning (ACP) allows patients to define their goals and preferences. Spending more time at home and less time in the hospital, along with avoiding death in the hospital, are often considered desirable outcomes of palliative care (PC). In 2015, 36% of cancer patients died in the hospital and 13% died at home in Norway. ⋯ With organized ACP conversations in primary health care and a summarizing palliative plan, cancer patients died less often in the hospital in our observational study. A structured ACP approach integrating palliative care for cancer patients into primary health care can support patients´ preferences at the end of life.
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Scand J Prim Health Care · Sep 2024
Comparative StudyFactors influencing antibiotic prescribing for respiratory tract infections in primary care - a comparison of physicians with different antibiotic prescribing rates.
There has been a notable decrease in antibiotic prescribing in the last thirty years in Sweden. Little is known about factors influencing antibiotic prescribing over several years. ⋯ Point-of-care testing and its interpretation differed between the prescriber groups. Focus on interpreting point-of-care test results could be a way forward in antibiotic stewardship.
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Scand J Prim Health Care · Sep 2024
Factors associated with development of retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus at onset and within three years after diagnosis.
To investigate the prevalence of diabetes retinopathy and evaluate the factors influencing its occurrence both at the onset of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and three years into its duration. ⋯ These findings indicate that the risk of developing diabetes retinopathy is present early on at onset and within the first three years of diabetes diagnosis. This highlights the importance of promptly regulating glucose- and blood-pressure levels and follow up kidney dysfunction to mitigate the risk of diabetes retinopathy.